Deviant
by lady-warrioress
Summary: Slight AU A Mad Scientist finds the perfect use for Starscream's empty shell.
1. Prologue

**Just to let you know in this fic the only robot who died in End Game was Starscream. Prowl's alive and kicking because in this universe there were enough fragments to stop the clones. I just felt like getting that off my chest right away. I hope this won't take away from the story. It's a slight Alternate Universe. **

Prologue

The road crew worked slowly, carefully moving the large gray robot corpse from the broken street to the back of a large flatbed trailer. It was slow going because the robot was so heavy and the work men's hands kept slipping. "Careful," the supervisor ordered his subordinates. "You don't want to damage it. Fowl said he wanted it in one piece and if you as much as chip it he'll do more than that to your face.."

"Well how does Fowl expect us to transport this thing whole in one piece?" one worker demanded, looking away from the hook he was attaching to the body so he could converse with his supervisor better. "This isn't our fault. So far we've only been able to keep its torso situated. The limbs keep flopping off and dragging on the ground."

"Well keep trying!" the higher ranking man snapped. "If so much as a finger gets broken off this thing he'll have our heads."

"I'll have more than that." spoke a voice behind him.

The supervisor jumped and spun around. The speaker was right behind him. He hadn't even heard him arrive he'd been so distracted by the argumentative worker.

A tall Irishman with spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes stood less than two feet away. He wore a long white lab coat over a light blue business shirt and blue dress pants. Though there wasn't anything sinister about the man's _appearance,_ something about the way his face was positioned and his stance made the other man feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was the constant nervous motion of the man's hands.

"Professor Fowl," the supervisor stammered, rattled. "What a surprise."

Professor Andrew Fowl scowled at the man, his entire presence radiating a kind of loathing for others of the species. In truth he hated humans. He even hated himself because he _was _human."I figured I'd come by and keep an eye on things," the man said, taking his hands out of the pockets of the lab coat and folding them across his chest. "I got a feeling that you all would be too clumsy to do it properly without my supervision." he glanced at the workers doing their best to get the corpse onto the flatbed. "I see my hunch was correct."

"We were doing just fine," the other man said defensively. "Nothing has been damaged."

The scientist glanced over at the gray corpse on the flatbed. Aside from the torso, everything else hung over the sides. "Not from where I'm standing." he walked past the man toward the flatbed. "This specimen was hard enough to come by thanks to Sumdac's obsession with taking all forms of new technology for himself." he reached up and touched the corpses face, taking in it's coolness and the blank dead eyes of the face that seemed to stare back at him stupidly. "Fortunately he did not seem interested in this piece."

"Maybe because he learned from the last time he played around with the technology," the supervisor suggested. "You know what happened the other winter. That Decepticon he played house with nearly destroyed the entire city."

Fowl smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. "Sumdac made a mistake," he said in a voice devoid of emotion. "He thought that using Cybertronian technology to create his machines would give him a name for himself." he looked at the other man. "Maybe it has, since his robots are used globally but he intentions were so_ primitive_." he caressed the face again "I intend to use the technology for much different means."

The other man felt he should ask. "What kind of means?"

Fowl rounded on him. "Why should you care?" the scientist snapped, his blue eyes flashing with suspicion.

The supervisor didn't back down, though the professor's reaction was unsettling. "It's like this," he explained. "If you intend to use this.. Decepticon for anything illegal I am afraid I cannot transport it. I have no intention of being an accessory."

Fowl laughed, a mocking sound. The other man hoped he never did it again. "No need to worry, my simple friend," he said. "What I intend to do with it is far from illegal. I just intend to use parts of it for a very important project I'm working on." he looked back at the robot, taking in the dead, gray face of the Decepticon named Starscream.

When he spoke again it was in such a low voice that nobody heard him. "I intend to create a new breed of human. One far superior than that little freak Isaac Sumdac passes off as his daughter."

* * *

Lase Vanderbelt's green eyes widened when the flatbed brought in the corpse of the Decepticon jet. It lay folded up like a broken toy on the metal surface and was held in place by thick cables.

Though she'd seen the Autobots running around the city during their final battle with Megatron only two days before she'd never seen one up close. She ran over to the truck just as her boss Professor Andrew Fowl climbed out of the passenger seat. "You actually got one!" she exclaimed running over when she saw him.

He smiled then went to join her as the workmen carefully took the corpse off the truck. "Yes," he replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I was able to obtain this specimen easily."

"How?" she wanted to know, unconsciously closing her white lab coat. She didn't like where his eyes had landed. "Would Professor Sumdac have-"

"Professor Sumdac was too busy worrying about his freak daughter and her robot pals to worry about this one," he cut her off, his voice sharper than he intended. His tone made her jump. "Besides; by the time he thought about it I'd already purchased the corpse. The city officials were all too happy to have it removed." he turned to watch the workmen gently place Starscream's sparkless body on the floor. They then began to detach the cables. "It's dead anyway so they don't have to worry about it causing trouble."

His words made her jump again. "It's _dead_?" now she took another careful look at the robot, her eyes widening further. "How do you know?"

"The color," he told her. When she looked at him cluelessly he said. "I'll show you." then put his hand on her back and led her over to it as he explained. "This robot used to have other colors. Gray, black, and a pinkish-red color. It no longer has these colors."

She looked at the robot. It still had gray and black but the red was gone. It made her feel depressed. "So when they die their colors change?" she questioned.

He smiled. "Precisely. This thing is dead. Stone cold. He couldn't come back even if he wanted to."

By then the workmen had left. Lase stepped toward the robot and touched it's face as Fowl has done earlier. She ran her hand over the cold metal, staring into Starscream's blank expression. A surge of pity went through her. _Did you really have to die? Could it have been prevented? _"I wonder how he died?" she said.

"What does it matter?" he asked her. "He's mine now. How he died is irrelevant."

She nodded, knowing he was right. "I know," she agreed, turning back to him. "I was just wondering. They're robots so he couldn't have died easily."

"Well it's none of our business," Fowl told her, heading over to the part of the lab where he kept all his tools. "His death was a good thing for us." he pulled something out of a cabinet and started fooling around with it. "With the use of his inner workings our project will be accomplished with less problems. Pretty soon we'll have the first of a brand new species."

She nodded. She didn't trust her mouth. She wasn't comfortable with her bosses life's work but she knew better than to tell him that. She couldn't afford to lose the only job she'd been able to obtain since she'd moved to the city two years ago. "Now that we have the most important ingredient to the project how soon will it before before we begin working on it again?" she asked instead.

He turned to her, smiling strangely. The smile made her nervous. _What's that look for?_

"Right away."

Then he came at her. Before she knew what was happening he'd grabbed her arm and shoved a hypodermic needle into it. She gasped and pulled away, but not before he injected something into it. She stepped back, grabbing her arm, staring at him with wide green eyes. "What did you do to me?" she demanded.

"Don't be so upset," he admonished her. "You're about to make a huge contribution to science."

The meaning of his words sunk in like another needle. _No! _She bolted, spinning around and rushing toward the exit doors.

Fowl didn't even bother giving chase. She wouldn't make it very far.

The drug worked quickly, helped along by her movements which only circulated it through her bloodstream faster. She was barely halfway across the room when her vision started to swim and she stumbled. She put out her hands to break her fall but they refused to work.

She was out before she even hit the floor.

* * *

"It's not here." Prowl gave the area another careful scan. Optimus had sent him out to retrieve Starscream's corpse before they went to Cybertron. Even though the seeker was clearly dead thanks to Prowl and Jazz the Prime figured Magnus might want his body anyway.

The road below him was cracked as if something heavy had smashed into it but otherwise empty. The thing that should have been there was no longer in the area. Somebody must have taken it. But who?

"Not there?" Optimus voice registered surprise. "It should be there."

"But it's not." the cyber ninja touched down and knelt to examine the spot where Starscream's body should have been. "Either somebody did something with his body or he wasn't dead to begin with."

"He was dead all right," Optimus told him. "His body was the right colors."

Prowl sighed. "Maybe but that doesn't explain what happened to him." the cyber ninja stood and looked around. He noticed tire marks in the concrete. A vehicle had been parked there and had taken off rather quickly if it left tracks behind. "I think I found the answer."

"What?"

"Tire tracks," Prowl replied, examining the marks. "I believe I know what happened to our Decepticon friend's body."

"What?"

"I think it was taken," the cyber ninja replied. "By a human."

"A _human_!?" Optimus sounded more than a little surprise by this piece of news. "What could a human possibly want with Starscream's body?"

"Well remember Professor Sumdac," Prowl replied. "He used Cybertonian technology to create his robots."

"Professor Sumdac took his body?"

"No," Prowl replied. He was sure of that. Sumdac wouldn't be dumb enough to do that again. "I believe it was somebody else." he scanned the area, hoping to find something. "If it was a human I don't think we have anything to worry about. With the AllSpark nearly complete and the only fragments left are inside the Constructicons there's no way he can be reactivated."

For a moment Optimus said nothing. Prowl began to worry that he'd tell him to go looking for it. When Prime spoke it wasn't what he'd expected. "Fine. Forget about it. Since he's offline anyway there's no reason to go looking for his body. You can't exactly put a corpse on trial, can you?"

"No."

"Head back to the plant. We're leave on schedule."

"Right. Prowl out."

The cyber ninja cast one final look at the tire tracks before activating his jet pack and heading back to the plant where the others were waiting. As he flew over the city he couldn't prevent a bad feeling from nagging at his processor. What if Optimus was _wrong_?

_A/N_

_Though the plotline is kind of serious, the style I'm using is loose. I'll update this when I feel like it but I really don't have a lot of ideas right now. I'm not even sure how much I will like this. I'm trying something different. _


	2. Chapter 1

**Note: Just one thing before you get the wrong idea. Professor Fowl is not Artemis Fowl from the book series as a grown up. He's a different person with the same lineage and last name. **

**Thank you TehMarishal for beta-reading this for me. **

CHAPTER 1

_A few weeks later._

Sari stood on the curb, her arms folded and her foot tapping impatiently. "Come on, Bumblebee," she called to her best friend, the young yellow and black colored Autobot who was named after the fuzzy insect. "We're going to be late!"

"I'm coming!" the Autobot whose nickname was Bee called from the entrance to the old plant. "I just have to.... okay I got it." he joined her a few seconds later. "I'm ready."

Sari eyed him uncertainly. "What in the world are you wearing?" she asked.

"This?" he looked at himself. He wore a huge black leather… something on his upper body. "It's my jacket."

"Your jacket?" she raised an eyebrow. "Bumblebee," the girl began, very slowly. "You're a robot. Why do you need a leather jacket?"

"Well aren't we going to a club?" he asked her. He grabbed part of the jacket and lifted it. "I wanna look good."

"You look good without the jacket," she told him. "You don't _need _it to be considered smoking."

"What are you trying to say?" he demanded. "That it makes me look dorky?"

"Not dorky," she said nervously. "More like ridiculous."

Her friend made a face. "Ah you're just jealous."

"No, I'm not," she replied. "You honestly look ridiculous. Bee, you look just fine without the jacket. Everyone already thinks you're awesome. You don't need to add to that. Besides..." she wrinkled her nose. "It stinks. Where did you find that thing anyway? A dumpster?"

"Sort of," he said looking sheepish.

"Well take it off!" she ordered, covering her nose. "We all think you're awesome without it!"

"Really?" he asked. "They think I'm awesome?"

She nodded, still holding her nose. "Yes," she replied. "Just you coming to the club is sure to prove that. You'll be the center of attention."

From the look on the young Autobot's face she could tell her words had just the right effect. Bumblebee had an ego and Sari knew just how to stoke it. "Awesome," he said. He pulled off the giant leather thing that didn't really look like a jacket to begin with. "Let's go then."

Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode and opened the passenger side door. Sari hopped in and secured herself with the seat belt so she wouldn't go flying if he stopped fast. Once she was situated Bee took off.

A few minutes later they arrived at the club. Sari waited for Bumblebee to transform then the two friends entered together.

Bumblebee's audio receptors were assaulted by loud music and flashing multi-colored strobe lights. The dance floor, which was about the size of a football field, was already full of teenagers be bopping to the beat.

"Come on, Bee," Sari said, touching his leg. "Let's dance!"

He held back. "I don't know," the young Autobot said a little uncertainly. "I mean… what if I step on somebody?"

"Bumblebee," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you hesitating? I never expected that from you. Don't worry about it. You won't step on anybody. They'll see you coming and give you space."

"All right." he followed her onto the dance floor.

A few minutes later both were dancing, moving in perfect rhythm to the beat. Bumblebee found himself enjoying it though he did nearly step on a few kids when he got a little too into it.

"Watch it!" a boy with green streaks in his hair shouted.

"Sorry," Bumblebee apologized.

Sari was so busy dancing she didn't see the man until she smacked into him. Both figures fell to the floor with a thunk.

"I'm so sorry!" Sari exclaimed, quickly getting off the man. "I didn't see you."

The man looked at her and spoke but it's voice didn't sound right. No English words came out of his mouth and his voice sounded like some kind of computer.

"Excuse me?" she said.

He spoke again but the same sounds came out. By then she'd noticed how strangely he was dressed. He wore a floor length trench coat and a fedora. His face was hidden in shadow so she could not get a good look at it. She did notice something weird about his eyes. They seemed to be glowing blood red. Before she could say anything about it, the man turned away from her and disappeared into the throng.

"Bumblebee," Sari said, touching her friend's leg. "Umm, Bee."

"What?" he shouted over the music. "I can't hear you!"

"Bumblebee!" she shouted back.

He looked down at her. "What?" he asked again.

"Did you see that?" she asked, pointing.

"See what?"

"The guy in the coat."

He looked confused. "_What _guy in the coat?"

She sighed. He hadn't seen it. "Never mind," she said, realizing he wouldn't believe her if she told him. "It's not important."

They resumed dancing but Sari couldn't get into it anymore. Her mind kept on flashing back to the memory of the strange man's voice and face. Even his movements had seemed strange, sort of jerky. It didn't seem like a real human. Could it have been a machine?

But that was ridiculous. There was no way that thing could have been anything other than human. Her father didn't have robots like that and she didn't know of any other robotics that made any androids within the past few years.

_Then what __**was **__it?_

Ignoring the voice in her head screaming at her to just let it go, she moved away from her friend and began to make her way through the crowd of dancing teenagers. She was going to find out exactly what she saw.

"Watch it!" a boy and a girl shouted when she shoved past them.

"Sorry!" she called over her shoulder.

Ahead of her, she saw the Thing making its way through the crowd. It was moving at a leisurely, if somewhat jerky, pace and didn't seem to be worried about running into anyone or being seen by the teenagers gyrating around it. Sari pressed forward, determined to get to the bottom of this before it escaped her.

She saw it open a door and disappear into the darkness. She quickened her pace, rudely shoving people aside and ignoring their indignant cries and managed to grab the doorknob before it swung shut. She yanked it open and followed the thing outside, ignoring shouts of: "Hey you can't go in there!"

But she found she wasn't outside. She was in a room full of boxes. It wasn't hard to figure out that it was a supply closet full of decorations for when the club held it seasonal dances.

But the room wasn't just full of boxes; the Thing was also in there. The person she followed stood before her but he wasn't alone. Seven others circled him like the tail of a peacock. Sari noticed they all wore the exact same outfit. Wide brimmed hats and long black trench coats.

"So you had friends," she said.

The Things spoke as once. Their voices resonated as one, each speaking the exact same words with the exact same pitch. She stared at them, unable to understand a single inflection.

Their eyes seemed to flare up, each flashing the same color red. Red like a Decepticon... but these were too small to be that.

Suddenly the leader lifted his head and in the faint light she finally saw its face... or what stood in for a face.

The head had no skin, only a black skull made out of metal and what looked like human bone. There was no nose to speak of, only holes where it should have been and the mouth was as black as the skull, even the teeth or what remained of the teeth. Where the eyes should have been were sunken sockets with what looked like red light bulbs screwed into what should have been empty space. It made her think of something she once saw in a nightmare.

While she recovered from what she saw the thing let out a blood curdling scream.

Sari fell back as if struck, her hands shooting up to cover her ears. What was that? It couldn't be normal sound! Was it sonics?

The thing's stopped screaming and her ears felt better. She opened one eye and looked at them._ Did these things get built by Soundwave?_

She pushed herself off the floor and faced the things. "All right, you Soundwave minions," she said as her hands opened to reveal their inner workings. "If you want a fight I'll give you one!"

* * *

Bumblebee looked around the crowded dance floor. "Sari?" he said, his optics scanning the dancing teenagers.

Just minutes before he'd realized his best friend was no longer beside him. For a moment he thought she'd just gone to get a drink or go to the bathroom but when she hadn't returned he'd grown worried. Something had to be wrong.

_Sari, where are you?_

After ten minutes had gone by he decided to look for her. Carefully stepping over the humans he made his way toward the snack bar. Maybe she'd decided to get a hot dog or something.

"Watch it!" a kid yelled when he almost stepped on him and his girlfriend.

"Sorry," Bee apologized.

He was more careful from then on. By the time he reached the snack bar he was relieved. He hadn't stepped on a single human. "Excuse me," he said to the person behind the counter. "Did a girl wearing an orange and yellow dress buy anything from you?"

The bored looking woman behind the counter shook her head. "Sorry, hon," she said then turned away. "I haven't seen anyone that matches that description tonight."

"But-" he began but was cut off when a loud explosion rocked the building.

Fearing a Decepticon attack, Bumblebee got moving, rushing toward the source of the sound while trying to avoid stomping on teenagers that seemed to have the exact same idea

The racket seemed to be coming from the back of the building. As he drew near he thought he caught a glimpse of somebody in a yellow and orange dress.

_Sari?_

He reached the spot just as Sari let loose a huge orb of blue energy. In the blinking light of the disco ball suspended from the ceiling the Autobot saw it hit something black with glowing red eyes.

"Sari?" he asked, coming up behind her.

"Stand back, Bumblebee!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Bumblebee stood back as a crowd of curious teens flanked him. "What's going on?" one kid whispered.

"Hey, isn't that Professor Sumdac's techno-organic daughter?" another asked. "Awesome! She's so hot!"

Just then one of the Things let out a roar that shook the entire building. The teenagers around Bumblebee were knocked off their feet while others, further back, panicked and ran, screaming. The noise caused both Sari and Bumblebee to cover their ears.

"What is that thing?" the young Autobot shouted over the noise.

"I don't know," Sari shouted back, her face filled with pain. "But we have to do something about it before it hurts somebody!"

"How?" he yelled, pressing his hands against the sides of his head in hopes of muting the noise. "We can't get near them like this!"

With much effort the techno organic girl removed her hands from her ears and created a blue orb of energy in her hand. She reared back and let loose. The screaming Thing stopped screaming and... grabbed the orb out of mid-air!

Sari's eyes widened in shock. "How did he do that?" Bumblebee asked.

The thing screamed again and threw the orb back at the girl. It hit her in the chest and knocked her back. The rest of the teens took off for their lives.

"Sari!" Bumblebee exclaimed, running up to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, as he helped her up, her hand on her forehead. She looked up and her eyes widened. "Look out!"

Too late. A huge beam of blue energy slammed into the young Autobot's side sending him flying. Bee crashed into the wall and hit the floor causing more young people to scatter. Most headed for the exit while a few hung back, recording the whole battle on camera phones.

"Are you all right?" Sari asked, running toward him. She was in full battle mode now, her head covered by her helmet which would filter out the sonic noises.

"I'm fine," he said, pushing himself up. "Just a little bruised." he lifted his head and spotted the Things. They were walking toward them with an uneven gate. Their balance seemed to be messed up or they all had something wrong with their legs because they seemed to limp. Bee took in their skull-like faces, which were now exposed to the flashing lights and their glowing red eyes. He noticed something else about them. Whatever flesh was on their faces seemed to be cracked and falling off. "Zombies?!" he exclaimed, his optics widening in terror. Memories of zombie creatures on horror flicks came to mind. Were these Things after his brains? Then again; he'd never seen movies about robot zombies.

Sari looked up at him. "Zombies?"

His hands changed to stringers. "Those things look like zombies."

One of the things fired at her again. She jumped out of the way. "Who cares what they look like?" she said, creating another orb of energy. "They're trying to kill us!"

Bee raised his hands and fired bolts of electricity at the zombie Things. Two took the blasts the chest and were knocked back into their comrades. They didn't stay down for very long and within seconds they were up again and walking toward them.

Bumblebee and Sari braced themselves to fire again but then something happened.

The electrical zombies stiffened, began to crackle and smoke, then suddenly they began to spark. Suddenly, they exploded, and bits of metal and organic tissues went everywhere. Droplets of blood rained down on Sari and Bumblebee.

"Eww!" Sari exclaimed, wiping gore from her eyes. "That's disgusting!"

"Tell me about it," Bumblebee pulled an arm off his head. It twitched and he dropped it with a scream.

Sari wiped her dress off the best she could. Blood and guts still clung to the fabric which she stared at in distaste. "Why'd they do that anyway?"

"How should I know?" Bee asked, kicking the still twitching limb. "I'm just glad it did."

Sari stared at the remains of the things. She saw a few limbs lying here and there. Curiosity got the best of her and she reached down to pick up an arm.

"What are you doing?!" Bumblebee exclaimed, horror struck.

"Look!" she said, showing him the arm. He saw sparks flying from it. "Does that thing have _circuitry_?" he asked.

"It looks like it," she replied, studying the limb. "But why would it?" she lifted her head and looked at the remains once more. "What were those Things anyway?"

* * *

Professor Andrew Fowl slammed his fists on the keyboard. "No!" he shouted, his voice filled with rage. "This can't be happening! How could that be? I thought I fixed that glitch!"

The short tempered Irishman had been watching the entire night club incident on his large computer screen built into the lab wall. A few hours ago he'd decided to test out his new super humans by having them attack one of the Autobots. When he found out that two of them were going to a night club he'd done some hacking and gotten eight of his creations inside. Since the club was full of humans a few more in concealing clothing wouldn't be noticed. He'd also gained control of the security cameras so he could watch the outcome. Sadly it wasn't what he'd been expecting.

Things had been going pretty well and then the creatures all exploded... at the exact same time.

"There's something wrong," he said now. "But what did I miss?" he spun around and stared at something off to the side. "It worked on _her_. _She_ didn't blow up or die. So why... why did _they_?"

The scientist got out of his chair and walked toward his subject. It was a young woman with long blond hair and pale skin. She was strapped to an examining table and wore only a thin white slip. Parts of her body were covered in red bruises and her right eye was concealed by a white bandage. Her other eye was closed as if she was sleeping.

Lase Vanderbelt, his former assistant and now his first guinea pig.

Fowl studied the woman for a long time, asking himself why she had lived while the other things had died the way they had. What made her so different? He stood in front of her, his hand on his chin, his mind thoughtful. _Why? Why is she different?_

Then it hit him. "Of course!" he went back to the computer and called up the blue prints. "When I put the circuitry into her body she was alive when I did it and, though it left bruises, she didn't implode." He stared up at the image on the screen. "But I put the other bits of circuitry in corpses. No wonder they didn't work. They had no circulation or brain activity so their bodies couldn't contain it." He slammed his hand on the control panel. "But if it requires living beings that will mean I have to go after more humans and..." he shook his head. "I can't do that. That will just ruin everything I worked for. There must be another way."

He turned off the computer and exited the room, stepping into the hanger where he'd stowed his prize. He flicked the switch and the corpse was lit by giant floodlights. He walked over to the body, noticing the areas on the frame where he'd taken the circuitry out. Most of the spots had already been broken open before he'd worked on the body so access to them had been easy. There were still plenty of circuits he hadn't found yet and he intended to let them stay where they were until he was sure he found a working specimen.

_How can I use you to create my new breed of super humans after what just happened?_ he wondered. _I can't use your circuitry to reanimate corpses because they just destroy themselves after a few hours. I can't kidnap living humans because then too many people will know what I am doing and I can't risk it. _He put his hand on the cold metal of the dead Decepticon's frame and dropped his head, thinking._ There must be a way. Maybe if I start from the beginning. Use the eggs from a live female specimen…_

He looked back toward the lab He already _had_ the specimen for that._ But how will I add circuitry to an egg. That is impossible. If I tried that I could damage the egg or the circuits._

He reached up and grabbed the top part of Starscream's shoulder. He strained and was able to hoist himself up and onto the frame. He stood and walked over the large gray body, studying the damage created before and after he'd bought the body and taken it home. _The answer is here. I just have to find it._

He sat down on the chest and thought for a moment._ How did Professor Sumdac accomplish making his freak daughter? What did he use to make her organic yet not...? _He stood back and continued. _The break through has to be here. I just have to keep looking._

* * *

Sari and Bumblebee got a wide eyed reception when they returned to the plant. "What happened to you?" Ratchet asked them, taking in their gore covered bodies.

"We ran into a little trouble at the club," Sari explained, trying to rid herself of the remaining gore. It clung to her like a second skin, though most of it had dried out. She mentally vowed to never wear this kind of dress again.

"Trouble?" Optimus asked, his voice showing a spark of worry. "What kind of trouble?"

Sari looked at Bumblebee. "Show them," she said.

He made a face and reached into his chassis, pulling something out. He held the Thing out as if it was full of Cosmic Rust germs. Optimus leaned forward for a better look. Bee seemed to be holding a severed human arm. "What in Primus?"

"What _is_ that thing?" Ratchet demanded.

"That's what we'd like to know," Sari replied. "That arm belongs to the Things that attacked us in the club."

"Hmm..." Optimus said thoughtfully. He looked at them both. "Tell us what happened."

"Well we went to the club to, you know, just chill out for awhile," Bumblebee explained. "Then Sari spotted these strange looking humans. So she goes to find out what they're doing there and they attack her."

Optimus' optics flickered. "Attacked her?"

"Yes," Bumblebee replied. "It attacked her with this loud super sonic scream and then it and its friends started screaming together and attacking the people in the club. Sari and I tried to stop it but we couldn't do much and then..." his voice trailed off.

"And then what?" Ratchet prompted.

"Then they all just blew up," Sari finished.

"They blew up?" Prowl had spoken those words. Until then he hadn't really said anything, just stood back and studied the thing Bumblebee was holding. He stepped forward. "Why would they blow up?"

"I don't know," Bumblebee admitted, shrugging. "But that's what happened."

"Hmm," Prowl walked over to Bumblebee and studied the arm he was still holding. His visor flickered. "Interesting."

"What is it, Prowl?" Optimus wanted to know.

The cyber ninja took the arm and showed it to his boss. "It looks like a normal human arm but look at this." he pointed to something tiny that was shooting off blue sparks. "This Thing has circuitry."

"Circuitry?" The Prime's optics flashed.

"Let me see that," Ratchet ordered, stepping toward Prowl.

The cyber ninja handed it over. Ratchet placed the limb in the palm of his hand and activated his magnifier. "Hmm..." he mused.

"What is it?" Optimus asked.

"I don't know, yet," the medic replied. "I'll have to study it further but, if I had to take a guess, those Things were full of Cybertronian components."

* * *

After mulling over it for hours Professor Andrew Fowl stumbled upon the answer by accident.

He was pacing across Starscream's chest when he lost his footing and fell into a gap between the armor plates. Startled, he grabbed for the edge and pulled himself up but not before he thought he heard a slopping noise. Once he was back on the plating he looked into the gap, noticing something strange about the inside.

_What is that?_

Carefully he reached down and touched the inner workings. They felt cool and wet, not something he expected inside a robot. When he pulled himself back into a sitting position he stared at his hand. It had some kind of strange gray substance on it. How hadn't he noticed this before?

_Hmm... I wonder what this is?_

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small vial and let the liquid slide into it. Capping the vial, he slid off the robot and headed back to his lab. He had work to do.

Once he was back in his lab he opened the vial and let some of the liquid slide onto a glass plate then capped it again so the rest wouldn't fall out. He then slid the plate under a microscope and peered through the lenses. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

_This is metal! Liquid metal! Like mercury!_ He raised his head and looked back into the hanger. _Why would a robot have liquid metal inside it? Is it some kind of blood or..._

He ran over to the computer and quickly called up his findings. When he first began taking circuits out of Starscream's body he'd gotten a slight glimpse of the liquid but trumped it up to internal fluids which weren't really that important. Now… _What if it means something? _He called up the image and stared at it for a long moment. Yes there was definitely liquid metal under that frame. He took the vial out of his pocket. The metal seemed to have changed. What lay in it looked like a very tiny living creature.

And just then it all came to him.

"That's it!"

He saved his findings onto a disc then ran back into the hanger. He climbed onto the body and this time when he took the metal he made sure he did not touch it. "I finally figured it out!" he proclaimed as he raised the vial and looked at the substance inside of it. "I know exactly how to create the perfect human without using corpses or living beings."

He jumped down and headed back into the lab. "All I got to do is start at the beginning..."

_A/N_

_Yeah my style is a bit fragmented this time. I'm sorry. Anyway things are about to get interesting. I might have to up the rating on this fic though... Let me just point this out. I am not sure if protoform liquid still retains some of it's components after it's become a transformer. I am guessing. If so it would make for an interesting concept. _


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

_TWO WEEKS LATER_

Professor Andrew Fowl wiped away the steam and stared into the tank. Inside, suspended from a number of thick cables, a naked figure floated in a clear amber liquid. He smiled to himself, the creature was developing nicely. This one just might pull through, unlike the other five.

"Just a little longer, my creation," he said, poking the glass. "Just hold on for a few more days. If you live to become full grown I will show you to the world and they shall all appreciate my genius!"

"Or your madness!" a voice spoke up.

Fowl frowned and turned away from the tank to glare at the figure in the cell. Lase Vanderbelt, his former lab assistant glared at him from the other side of the glass. After he'd finished working on her body, he'd removed her from the examining table and locked her in the cell where she stood now. Her body was still covered in red bruises and the patch hadn't been removed from her right eye. He frowned at her. Though she was the first human he'd successfully put the circuitry into he considered her a failure because it was too obvious. She would never be able to walk around in public without people noticing the upgrades.

"My dear Miss Vanderbelt," Fowl said, stepping over to the cell. "Did I not tell you already? What one mistakes for madness another see as greatness. What I have accomplished here is just the first step in our evolution. This is only the beginning or a new era of humanity. Once everyone sees my genius more will follow in my footsteps and then the human race will finally realize it's full potential."

"By injecting untested materials into unborn children?!" Lase shouted. "Nobody will fund something like that! Plus you'll have all the pro-lifers on your case!"

"Like I care what a bunch of religious fanatics care about," he snapped. "This is science! Nothing should stand in the way of science!"

"This isn't science!" she protested. "It's genocide!"

He stared at her mildly. "Then what do you call it?" before she could answer he went on. "This is why you could never understand my work even as you helped me with my theory, my dear Miss Vanderbelt. You never really believed I could accomplish anything." he pointed a finger inn her face. "But you were wrong, just like all the other scientists who thought my work was pointless." he waved his hand at the tank. "and this specimen will prove it! In a matter of days it will be fully grown and I will show it to the world. And when I show it to the scientific community they will all realize my theory was right all along!"

The blond woman looked away, rubbing one of the bruises on her arm. "I hope it fails," she muttered under her breath. "I hope you lose this one just like you lost all the others. Maybe then you'll come to realize that it's not going to work."

He heard her. "What a thing to say about your own child," he reprimanded. He smirked when he saw her flinch. "After all. I used your eggs to create it."

"I would never want that sort of thing to befall any of my children," she told him. "I'd rather have it die then have to be subjected to the things that will come with being successful."

Fowl chose to ignore that comment and walked back to the tank. He rested his hand on the cold glass and studied the figure inside. Though he was proud of it it wasn't exactly what he wanted. But since all the others had died and this one had lived he wasn't going to give up on it even if something about its body was wrong. Most likely that little detail wouldn't matter.

Power was power no matter who wielded it.

He turned from the tank and headed over to his chair where he'd lain his lab coat. He picked it up and the tie folded on top of it and put both on. Lase watched him with her one good eye.

"Going somewhere, Professor?"

"Not that it's any of your concern," he shot back. "There is a robotics convention tonight and I intend to be present. I heard Professor Sumdac is making a speech about some ideas he has for making things easier for humanity." he laughed spitefully. "What a joke! That guy's the biggest liar in history. He stole all the technology he has and still people love it."

"You're doing the same thing." she pointed out. "He stole their technology and you're stealing it as well."

"No," he said correctively. "I _bought _the technology. I have every right to use it."

Then before she could say another word, he turned away and headed into the hanger. When he entered the room he looked at Starscream's corpse and smiled. "Soon, my friend," he said, walking over and patting the gray frame. "Soon my hopes and dreams will be fulfilled and it's all thanks to you."

* * *

"Why did I have to come along?" Sari demanded, folding her arms crossly. She scanned the large room full of people in lab coats. "You know how I feel about these things. Besides everyone keeps staring at me."

"They've never seen a techno organic human before," Professor Isaac Sumdac told her, putting a hand on her arm. "Don't worry about it."

"All right." she said doubtfully. By the looks on the other inventors faces she could tell that they all wanted to take her apart to see how she worked. "But I still don't feel comfortable."

Sumdac sensed it and advised. "Then you'd better stay close to me. I wouldn't want something happening to you in the name of scientific curiosity."

She nodded and they both headed into the crowd.

"Well well if it isn't Professor Sumdac and his dear daughter," a voice spoke up suddenly.

Sumdac paused and looked over his shoulder. A slightly younger man with spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes walked toward him. The man wore a white lab coat over his dress shirt and slacks. In his hand he held a wine glass. Sari noticed her father tense at the sight of him. "Professor Fowl," he said in a tight voice. "What a surprise. I didn't think you'd make it this time."

The other man gave him a fake smile. "I heard you were going to make an announcement this time," he told him. "I wouldn't miss that for the world." his eyes locked on Sari. "She sure has grown in the past year. How did you do it? Vitamins?"

Sumdac ignored his probing. "So how are things on your side of the fence?" he questioned. "Have you gotten a break through yet?"

The man's smiled turned cold. "It's getting there," he told him. "But I'm not going to make any public revealings until I'm sure I have it right."

"That could take awhile." Sumdac muttered.

Fowl heard him. "Not as long as you might think." He looked back at Sari. His ice blue eyes made her nervous. "Maybe by the end of the month."

"I doubt it."

The Professor merely smiled.

"Excuse me, Mr uh." Sari spoke up.

"Fowl," the man said. "Professor Andrew Fowl."

"Professor Fowl. What exactly do you do?"

"Your father never told you?" he locked eyes with her when Sumdac looked away. "I am working on creating the perfect human being."

She looked startled. "How do you expect to do that?" she wanted to know.

"How did you wind up the way you are?" he answered her question with a question.

She did not answer.

"I intend to figure out a way to fuse robotics with human beings," he told her. "Once I have the technology mastered the human race can then reach it's next stage of evolution."

Professor Sumdac noticed Sari was beginning to look uncomfortable with this form of conversation. "Let me remind you that that form of work was banned years ago."

Fowl shot him a correcting look. "If you spent more time reading the latest news on science instead of shoving your face in machine parts you'll realize that my form of work was legalized two years ago. The higher ups are just as eager to see my finished project as I am."

The younger man was lying but he wasn't about to admit it. It was best if Isaac thought that his work was considered a high priority instead of a joke.

"It doesn't sound like anything anyone would want to encourage," Sari spoke up.

Fowl looked right at her. "What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

She explained. "From what I get; you intend to put robotics into human beings as you said," she replied. "How do you intend to do this? Are there humans out there willing to let you do something like that to them? Or are you going to kidnap people and force this kind of thing on them?"

"How I do it does not concern you," he told her.

"It does if it involves humans lives." a memory came to her mind just then. A flashback of the night club incident two weeks ago. When she and Bumblebee had brought the fragment back to the plant Ratchet had studied it intently for a long time. He'd finally told everyone some unsettling news. The organic like components were human. But not living human tissue. The skin was decomposing. Whoever had built these things had infused Cybertronian circuitry into corpses. "Or maybe I should say human_ remains_."

Fowl gave her a sharp look. Before Professor Sumdac could notice his expression returned to normal. 'I don't know what you're talking about, little girl," he said, folding his arms. "But anyone who uses human remains in experimentation has things backward. Robotics would never work in corpses. No brain activity to help it function." he smirked. "If someone tried it they would have their work blow up in their face. I can assure you that_ I_ would never be foolish enough to try it."

Before she could comment he walked away.

Professor Sumdac noticed the look on his daughter's face. He put a hand on her arm. "Do not worry about him," he told her. "Nobody really takes him seriously. He is like Prometheus Black. He will never accomplish what he set out for."

"Don't worry, dad," she told him. "I'm not worried."

_He might not be able to succeed in his line or work but that doesn't mean he won't try. _she looked back at the other scientist who by then had almost disappeared in a crowd of people who didn't really seem to like him. _Black told me all I need to know about people like him. Even if they don't get what they want that doesn't mean they won't stop trying._

She promised herself that as soon as this convention was over she would contact the Autobots and let them know about the scientist.

_

* * *

_

_Where am I?_

It could feel the cold brown fluid swishing gently against its skin. It was submerged in it. Eyes that had been shut for a long period of time slid open. The liquid did not sting them. It saw dark shapes beyond the liquid and strange lights.

_Where am I?_

It reached out a hand. The cold liquid seemed to fight it, impairing the movement and keeping it from going to far. It fight back, determined to touch something. The tips of its fingers rested gently on cold glass. It pushed against the glass but the glass did not give. It was thick and stubborn.

_Trapped. I am trapped!_

Both eyes opened wide. It could now see the items beyond the glass clearly. Shapes, colors.. lights. A door.

_Door!_

_I am trapped!_

_Door!_

_I am trapped!_

Both hands rested on the glass now. It shoved against it but the transparent wall would not give.

_Let me out! Let me out!_

Energy began to build within it. As it shoved against the substance keeping it from freedom the liquid began to grow hot. The tubes connected to it's body activated, trying to inject a sedative. The energy inside it fought back, rejecting the substance and sending it back up the tubes.

_I **will** get out! You cannot hold me prisoner!_

The power reached one hundred percent. The things eyes, as red as fresh blood, lit up and it let the energy loose.

* * *

Lase heard a cracking sound and raised her head to stare at the tank where Fowl's new creature floated in suspension. She thought she saw a figure with glowing eyes staring back at her. Before she could react in any way, the tank exploded, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. The thing with the glowing eyes fell and landed in a slowly shallowing puddle of amber liquid.

Lase gasped when it began to move. Two glowing red eyes stared into her own and she felt a kind of shock go through her. Before she knew what was happening the decepticon circuitry in her body reacted to the shock and sent surges of electrical charges through her. She screamed once then everything went black.

* * *

Professor Andrew Fowl was in a rotten mood when he left the convention a few hours later. He wasn't exactly sure what had ticked him off. Maybe it had something to do with Professor Sumdac's speech. The man had made such a big production about his new line of robots that he'd had the whole crowd eating out of his hand. All except for Fowl. He knew the man was all show.

Who cared about his new line of robots anyway? Once Fowl revealed his creation to the world nobody would care about Sumdac and his little toys.

_Then we'll see who's the real roboticist around here! _

He pulled into the parking lot of his lab a few minutes later. As soon as he turned off the motor and got out he instantly sensed something wrong.

The man removed a pistol out of his jacket and inserted the key into the door but found it unnecessary. The door opened by itself, moved by his hand touching the knob from the outside.

_How did this door get unlocked? _

A sudden fear struck him. What if somebody had broken in and stolen his subject? Checking the gun to make sure it was loaded he stepped into the lab building. The area before him was dark so he groped along the wall until his hand found the switch. He flicked it up and was greeted by chaos. The hanger where the corpse of Starscream was trashed. Parts, tools, and miscellaneous junk lay everywhere. Even Starscream's body looked like it had been vandalized. Large burn marks marred the metal in many places.

He stared at the mess in shock. 'No!"

_If this is how** this **room looked_, he thought to himself. _What about my lab?_

Cocking the gun he crossed the ruined hanger and stepped into his laboratory. When he turned on the light it didn't stay on but flicked in an eerie strobe light effect. This room was worse than the hanger. His equipment was strewn all over the floor, the chair by the computer control was torn to shreds. As for the screen itself, it was broken as if somebody had thrown something heavy at it.

Then he saw that the large glass window for Lases cell was shattered. Thinking she'd somehow gotten out he headed over to it. In the weird strobe light effect he got a strange glimpse of the woman's body. She lay on the floor of the cell with blood oozing out of all the bruises on her body. He would have thought she was dead if not for the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"Lase!" he yelled, climbing into the cell and leaning over her. He put his hand under her back and lifted her off the floor. "Wake up! What happened?"

She moaned and opened her good eye.

"Who did this?" he asked her again.

The woman's expression changed. It seemed to go from the blank stare of the just wakened to cold and hateful. She raised her arm and pointed at something to his left. When she spoke her voice was a low monotone. "Your wonderful creation."

_What?!_

He turned his head in the direction she was pointing. That's when he saw the remains of the tank. Shards of glass and amber liquid littered the floor around jagged top and bottom of the large test tube. He saw wires dangling limply, still leaking more of the substance.

Fowl let go of Lase who fell limply to the floor. He stood and walked over to the broken tank. _What is this? _He touched the tanks and stared in the interior. Aside from a shallow pool of liquid on the bottom the tank was empty. _It's not here!_

He panicked and ran back over to Lase, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her. "Where is it?" he demanded of her.

She glared at him with a defiant expression. "Why are you asking me?" she snapped. "I was trapped in a cage! Besides I was knocked unconscious!"

He threw her to the floor. "Stupid woman!" he yelled. "You should have kept an eye on it!"

She pushed herself up and glared at him. "Why _should_ I?" she practically screamed. "After what you did to me? I have no part in what you do! I would have preferred if it had died! It's gone now and you'll never be able to find it!" she laughed at him. "I wish it all the best!"

He struck her, knocking her back onto the floor. "How dare you!" he yelled. "I bet you're somehow to blame for this! I never should have used your eggs! I should have killed you after I found out that what I did to you was too obvious! You're a failure!" he grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. "You're a failure that deserves to be as dead as the creature I got the circuitry from!"

Then, before she could attempt to get away, he drug her forcefully out of the lab and into the hanger.

* * *

Sari managed to get away from her dad a half hour before the convention ended. She'd seen the scientist named Fowl leave after her father's announcement and knew it was time to act. She slipped quickly out of the building and into the parking lot. When Fowl's black Corvette pulled out of the parking lot she followed him using her scooter/jet pack to keep an eye on him.

On the way she called Bumblebee.

"Hello?" he said.

"Bumblebee," Sari said. "It's me."

"Sari?" he asked, sounding confused. "What's up? I thought you were at the convention with Professor Sumdac."

"I was but it was so boring I snuck out," she said. "Guess what? I think I found out who is responsible for those things that attacked us the other week."

"You did?" now he sounded interested. "That's great."

"Yeah," she said. "But I'm not totally sure yet. I'm following the suspect right now and if my hunch is right he'll lead me right to the scene of the crime."

"Crime?"

"Yeah, his lab," she replied.

"You want me to go with you?"

"Yeah that would be a good idea," she responded. "Especially if he has more of those things hanging around."

"Okay," he said. "Send my the coordinates."

"I can't send them now," she told him. "I'm driving. Give me a few minutes."

"Okay." he agreed.

But she never reached her destination. Something came flying at her and knocked her out of the sky.

_A/N_

_For those of you who are wondering. Lases shock was not a reaction to the thing in the tank. The circuitry doesn't always work perfectly with her body and gives her violent shocks of rejection .I hope this chapter came out pretty good. It kind of focuses more on the OCs but that won't be a returning theme so don't worry.  
_


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Sari crashed to the pavement with the thing on top of her. She hit the ground hard and pain shot through her back. She cried out and shoved at the thing on top of her. It moved easily, jumping up and away from her and landing easily on the ground in a catlike crouch.

Sari, eyes widening, pushed herself into a sitting position. The thing in front of her had long black hair and glowing red eyes set into a pale face. It seemed to be about the same size as her but she couldn't really tell the thing's true height or gender because it wore baggy clothing and a trench coat that looked too long for it. It did look like a human though but ff it did not have those eyes, she would have taken it for a homeless teenager.

_What? _

The girl scrambled to her feet and faced the figure in the large, baggy, black and blue clothing.. "What are you?" she demanded.

The one in the baggy clothes did not answer. Instead it came at her, it's hands bent like the talons of a bird. Sari jerked sideways to avoid it. The thing seemed to sense that she would do that and twisted, moving with her and kicking hard with a long pale skinned leg. The girl took a blow to the ribs and flew backward, slamming hard into a brick wall.

* * *

Sari had still been on the line with Bumblebee when the thing had cut her off. He'd heard her grunt then the sound of her body impacting on the pavement a few seconds later. "Sari?" he he said uncertainly. A body blow. "Sari, what's going on?".

She obviously was distracted by something because she didn't give him an answer. He heard more grunting then her yell. "What are you?"

A moment later he'd heard another grunt then the link was broken.

The silence told him something was wrong and he found himself moving before he knew what his body was doing.

"Bumblebee!" a voice shouted after him.

The young Autobot stopped just outside the plant's huge double doors. He looked over his shoulder. Prowl was standing behind him, looking confused. "What's wrong with you?" the cyber ninja demanded. "and where do you think you're going at such an hour?"

Bumblebee crossed the parking lot and grabbed Prowl's arms. "Sari's in trouble!" he exclaimed, nearly climbing him.

Prowl obviously didn't like Bee's closeness or the fact that he was invading his personal space. But the younger robot seemed to be upset about something involving Sari and that would explain his weirdness so the older robot didn't comment on his lack of consideration. "Calm down." the ninja bot ordered, grabbing his comrades hands and prying them loose. "What happened to Sari?"

"I don't know!" Bee told him, fighting to keep his hands where they were. "But she called me and was telling me that she thought she'd found the guy who'd created those zombie things and-"

At Bumblebee's mention of the robotic corpses Prowl's interest spiked. "She did?" he asked, no longer trying to pry his friend loose. "Did she say where he was?"

"No," Bee replied. "She was following him and said she'd call back when she got there but she never got there!" Bee's optics widened and he waved his arms around as he explained what he'd heard. "Something attacked her! We have to save her!"

"Bumblebee, Sari is perfectly capable of taking care of herself," the cyber ninja pointed out. "Whatever attacked her she can deal with."

"But what if she _can't_!?" Bumblebee demanded. "I heard her fighting with that Thing! It hit her so hard it knocked out her commlink.

Prowl frowned. That sounded bad. A normal human being wouldn't be able to accomplish doing that to her. Not now after she found out she was a robot. Only a machine or something just as powerful could do hit her so hard her only form of communication would blink out. For a brief second Prowl had a flashback of Meltdown's Pretenders. They weren't robots but they were powerful. Could Meltdown be out of jail?

Was this his doing?

"We'd better go help her." he said.

* * *

Sari bounced off the wall and fell to the ground. She moaned and pushed herself back up, aware of the pain in her ribs. _It sure can hit hard. _

She heard footsteps coming toward her. Raising her head she saw the person in the baggy clothes advancing. Thinking fast, she jumped into the air, sailing over the other person's head and landing easily on the ground behind it. Then, before the other person could react, she spun around and kicked it hard in the back.

It smashed into the wall, grunting as it bounced off and crashed heavily onto the pavement. Sari braced herself expecting it to get back up but it didn't move. It lay there was if it was no longer conscious.

_Did I knock it out? No. I think its tricking me._

She opened her hands, exposing the wires and creating an energy orb. If that thing tried to hose her she'd be ready. She stood over it and looked down into the young person's face. With its eyes closed it didn't look so freaky. Now that she got a good look at it it didn't have a single resemblance to the corpse things she and Bumblebee had encountered at the club.

This one actually looked like a living, breathing person instead of a maggot infested zombie.

The comprehension startled her. _Could this person actually be a human, not some mindless freak? _She leaned over it._ Aside from his eyes, he looks like a normal human being. Could this be it? Could this be what Fowl meant? Did he actually use his experiments on living humans!?_

That's when she noticed something else. A strange purple smudge on its cheek. _What is that? _She leaned closer to get a better look. _Is that a symbol?_

Just then the youth's eyes popped open. Sari found herself staring into two glowing red eyes.

_Red? Why red?_

Before she could ponder the question further, the thing let out a high pitched scream and hit at the girl with its hands. Sari felt a hot, burning sensation course through her chest before she flew back, landing hard on her back on the pavement.

The young person got up and charged at her as she was slowly and painful pushing herself into a sitting position. She saw now that this things' eyes weren't the only things that were red. It's hands were also glowing a reddish-pink color and she thought she saw... not it couldn't be. This thing _couldn't _have wires in its hands!

She reacted quickly, before it could touch her with its hands again. She reached up and grabbed its wrists before it could lay a hand on her. It growled and tried to free itself but Sari held on tighter and refused to let it go. It looked right into her eyes and hissed.

Suddenly something strange happened. Words that didn't belong to Sari flashed into her mind. _Let me go! What is wrong with you, you freak? I just want to get away! You won't make me go back there! I won't be your prisoner! I won't allow you to kill me!_

_What in the world? _

It once again it tried to break loose. Sari reacted by rolling over and pinning the young person down. "What are you?" she demanded. "Did that man do this to you?"

* * *

Bumblebee and Prowl followed the point of Sari's last known location. Though Prowl tried not to think about it, Bumblebee's words were getting to him and he couldn't help feeling that Sari was in trouble. Big trouble.

"Hurry up, Prowl!" the younger Autobot shouted back to his comrade. "Sari could be slagged by now!"

"Bumblebee, I can't go any faster," he informed him. "If I did I would smash into you."

"No excuses!" Bee shot back. "Just hurry up!"

Prowl sighed and pulled up beside him, talking through the policeman hologram. "Happy now?"

Bumblebee ignored the question. "Have you got the EMP generator?" he asked him.

Before the two had left the plant they'd spoken to Ratchet about the conversation between Bumblebee and Sari. When the yellow Autobot had explained that the girl might have run into another one of those zombies Ratchet willingly handed the thing over. The medic would have gone along but he was working on something and was unable to leave it..

Another reason he'd handed it over was because he wanted to get a good look at a fully intact techno organic zombie.

"Just make sure you don't damage it!" he called after them when they tore out of the parking lot. neither was sure if he'd been talking about the Thing or the EMP.

"Of course I have it," the cyber ninja replied now, his voice loaded with impatience. "There's no way I'm going to drop it and face Ratchet's wrath for losing it."

"Then hold onto it," Bee ordered. "We can't let that thing do anything to Sari!"

"I don't think you have much to worry about..."

* * *

Lase thrust her palm against the inpenitrible glass of Starscream's cockpit. "Let me out, Professor!" she screamed, hitting the pane over and over.

The scientist had drug the woman out of the lab and into the hanger where he'd yanked her on top of Starscream's chest. She'd fought him the entire time but she wasn't able to break free from his grasp. Awhile back Fowl had had the cockpit opened so he could climb inside and take out wires. He'd meant to close it a long time ago but always forgot.

Now he pulled the woman over to the end and dropped her into it. Before she could climb out he yanked the lid down and shut it tight. "There!" he said, satisfied. "I hope you sufficate!" Then he'd turned away and climbed off the Decepticon.

Lase shoved her face against the glass and tried to see out. It was fogged up but not just by her breath. The windows had gone cloudy when Starscream died. Looking through them was like looking through fog.. She sighed and fell into the seat. It was soft but cold, just like the rest of the interior. Something tickled her arm and she gasped, jerking away from it.

It was nothing more than a loose wire.

Out in the hanger Andrew Fowl stepped down off the robot's chest and headed back into the lab. He crossed the room and stood in front of the broken tank. Ignoring the shards of glass littering the floor he got down on his knees and rested his hands on the floor of the tank. It was still wet because some of the liquid had not drained out. He raised his head and looked up at the broken tubes.

_It woke up, _he realized. _It woke up before it should have and freed itself. It could be anywhere now. But.. _he stood back up and touched the dripping tubes. _If that thing woke before the right time a sedative was supposed to come down those tubes and inject into it. _He pulled down one of the tubes which leaked a green colored substance onto the floor. _It did what it was supposed to do but why didn't it work? Was there a blockage? Did I forget to trouble shoot before I left? _

No, he hadn't made such a rookie mistake. He couldn't have. Not with so much at stake. Forgetting to do such an important thing wasn't an option. He had checked it. He'd checked and double checked it.

"Then how come it didn't work?"

He crossed the room and picked the broken chair up off the floor. Ignoring the fact that the metal bar was bent he sat down on it and gave the whole thing some deep, careful thought. _There's got to be a reason for why the sedative didn't work. But what? Surely the thing didn't have an immunity against it. The Vanderbelt woman doesn't and the robot surely can't. _

The answer seemed so obvious but he could not grasp it. He knew it couldn't be that hard to figure out. _I'm missing something. _He got back up and walked toward the tank again. He stared at his reflection in the remaining bits of glass. "I have to be missing something."

The Professor paused. "What are you doing, Fowl?" he demanded. "You can't just stand around in here and worry about how it got out! You need to be worried about how you're going to get it back! You can ponder it's escape later!"

With that thought in his mind, he turned away from the tank, grabbed his car keys off the control panel where he'd set them, and bolted out of the lab and back outside where he'd parked his car.

Lase heard him coming and looked out of the fogged up cockpit window. She could just barely make out the scientist as he entered the hanger. When he looked in her direction she slapped her hands against the glass and screamed at him. "Let me out!"

Professor Fowl, either not hearing her or just choosing to ignore the woman's cries, turned away and bolted out the door.

The door shut tight behind him.

Lase sighed and flopped back into the seat. He wasn't going to let her out. He wanted her to die in there.

_I'm not going to give him the satisfaction! _she thought with determination. _If he won't let me out I'm going to do it myself. _Her good eye fell on the controls. _All I have to do is figure out how to get this thing to work. _

* * *

The youth responded to Sari's questioning by growling and kicking at her. The techno organic girl easily dodged the blow.

_I should have figured it wouldn't explain itself so easily._

"Let me go!" the thing suddenly shouted in a voice that didn't reveal which sex it was.

Sari stared at it. "So you _can_ talk!" she stated. She stood up, yanking the other person off the ground. "Fine, if you can talk, why don't you tell me what you're trying to get away from?"

"I don't have to tell you1" it screamed, pulling back in an attempt to break her hold. "Just release me! I won't go back! I will _never _go back there! You won't kill me again!"

_Kill it? What in the world?_

"I'm not going to kill you!" she insisted. "What gave you such an idea?"

The youth shoved at her. She wasn't expecting that and her grip on its arms broke free. It stepped back and its hands began to glow red. Before she could do anything to defend herself it shot her with a blast of red energy.

Sari took it in the chest and flew back, hitting the wall and bouncing off. She landed on her stomach but quickly got back up, ignoring the pain in her body. "That's it!" she shouted, losing her temper. "I tried to be nice but you wouldn't listen!"

She created two large blue orbs of energy and stalked toward the thing. It's glowing red eyes widened in surprise. "That's right, you crazy thing, I am exactly like you," she told it. "Only I've got more experience!" then she flung both orbs right at the thing.

The young person had only seconds to put up its arms to protect itself before the energy balls slammed into its body and knocked it backward. It slammed into the ground, cracking the pavement on impact. He roared in agony.

Sari came at it with two more orbs. It pushed itself into a sitting position and glared at her. When she let one of the orbs fly it put up its hand and grabbed the lowing sphere.

The techno organic girl stared, surprised. She hadn't been expecting that.

Sari braced herself for the youth to throw it back at her. If it did she was going to catch it.

But that never happened. The young person surprised her by throwing it to the side then turning to run.

"Oh no you _don't_!" the girl shouted, giving chase. "You're not going anywhere!"

The youth looked over his shoulder and saw her catching up. It's face took on a panicked expression before turning away and taking off.

Sari's body changed into her battle mode. She knew there was no way she'd be able to catch the young person in her average state. In her other form she could go much faster. _I'm not going to let you get away. Not after you tried to kill me. _

Sari chased the youth down the street, never losing sight of it or getting out of breath. She could see that her target didn't have the same advantage. It was beginning to slow down and she could hear it panting heavily.

"You're beginning to wear out!" she called to it. "Soon I will catch you!"

The youth twisted around and aimed it's hands at her. They glowed red. "I told you to leave me alone!" it shouted, letting loose a ray of energy.

Sari easily dodged the blow then jumped into the air. She came down at the young person, and kicked it in the chest. The youth took the blow hard and fell back. It hit the ground, skidding across the pavement then coming to a stop.

Sari stopped again but this time she made sure she had energy orbs ready to blast at it.

The youth got back up and faced her. By now it was bruised and a trickled of pink colored blood ran down its cheek. It reached up to wipe the bodily fluid away, his red eyes locked on her.

Sari's eyes focused not on its face but on the blood running down it. Human blood was red and, even if a human had been given Cybertronian technology, the blood should still be red. The color told Sari something she hadn't expected, even if this thing had the same or similar abilities to hers.

This younge person was no human, not even an experimented on one. It was something else. Something... mechanical?

Suddenly the youths entire body started glowing. The light was a blood red color and bathed him in a eerie illumination. Sari stepped back, expecting it to hit her with something. Instead she got another surprise.

It screamed. Not an anger filled scream but one of agony. It grabbed it's sides in pain and crumpled over, seeming to be having some sort of complications. Sari stared in horror as the light grew brighter and seemed the envelope it. She heard a tearing sound but by now all she could see through the light was a silloette. The youth screamed again.

Whatever was happening to it wasn't pleasant.

"Sari!" a voice shouted.

The girl turned around. She saw a yellow compact car and a motorcycle coming toward her. She recognized them both right away. "Prowl! Bumblebee!" she shouted, waving her arms and running toward them.

Both transformed when they saw her.

"Sari, you're okay!" Bee exclaimed, sounding relieved.

Prowl noticed the red glow. "What's that?" he asked.

She looked back at the light. By now the thing's whole body head disappeared but she could still hear that scream. "You have to help it!" she yelled.

The cyber ninja looked at her, his optics wide with confusion. "Help what?"

"That!" she exclaimed, pointing at the light. "It's in pain. You have to turn off that light before something happens to it!"  
"Happens to _what_?"

"I'll explain later! Just do something!"

Prowl raised his arm. The EMP generator activated on it and he fired a blast into the red light. Instantly the glow faded, the darkness rushing back into place.

"What was that?" Bumblebee asked when everything was calm again.

Prowl was still staring at the spot. He thought he saw something on the ground. Without a word he started toward it.

"Where are you going, Prowl?" Bumblebee asked.

The cyber ninja didn't reply. He just kept walking, a purpose in his step. When he reached the spot he looked down at the street then turned back to the others and beckoned them over.

Sari and the yellow colored Autobot joined him. They all stood in place and stared down at the figure. Bumblebee took in the pale skin, black hair, and baggy clothes. "A human?" he asked. "That glowing thing was a human?"

"It's not human," Sari replied.

Bee looked at her. "It's not?" he asked. When she shook her head he pressed. "What do you mean?"

"I think," Sari began, looking back at the unconscious form, spawled limply before them. "That it's-"

"Just like you," Prowl finished.

She looked up at him. "Yes."

Buymblebee's optics bugged out. "What?" he exclaimed. 'How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Sari replied. "I thought there was only one of me." she looked back down at the figure. "It seems I was wrong or..."

Prowl looked at her curiously. "Or?"

"Or that scientist was _right_!" she blurted out. "What if he actually did it!?"

"Did what?" Bumblebee asked, confused.

"I think," Prowl said, heading over to the figure and picking it up. "We should head back to the plant and have her explain things there."

_A/N_

_In case you're wondering the Autobots and Sari know that it's not human but they don't know how it wound up that way. They do not yet know that it was created in a tank. I am seriously have a hard time with this story that's why it's progressing slowly. I am trying to avoid cliches and so it's slow going. _

_Also in case you might be wondering I refer to it as "it" or "he" because right now the gender has not been revealed. The outfit the youth is wearing covers everything but I bet you can guess what it's going to be anyway. I don't really like this chapter for certain reasons and I'm glad I don't have to go through it again. Things will be much smoother in the future. _


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Professor Andrew Fowl drove his car recklessly through the late night traffic. During the early stages of its creation, the scientist had infused a tracking chip into the youth's body so if it ever went crazy and ran off he would be able to find it. As he drove he took quick glances at the yellow blip on the car's built in computer screen.

"Yes, you just keep on broadcasting," he said to the blip which was slowly getting bigger. "Tell me where it is." And that's the exact moment when the tracker chose to blink out."No!" he yelled, his eyes locked on the screen. "Don't do this to me!"

A horn blared at him and he looked up just in time to avoid running headlong into a semi truck. "What happened?" he asked himself out loud. "That chip was error proof. I built it myself! It can't have just blinked out like that!"

He slammed his fist on the dashboard and cursed, but nothing changed. The signal was gone. He'd completely lost his target.

* * *

Ratchet was waiting for Prowl and Bumblebee outside the plant. "What took you so long?" Ratchet asked when the younger Autobots pulled into the parking lot.

Prowl transformed. Bumblebee stayed in vehicle mode because of his cargo. "It's complicated," the cyber ninja explained, looking down at his friend.

Ratchet raised an optics ridge. "Complicated?" he echoed, folding his arms. "What's so complicated about it?"

"Trust me, Ratchet," Sari said, climbing out of the front seat of Bee's vehicle mode. "It is."

The old medic looked down at her. "Sari?" he said, looking surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Professor Sumdac went to that Robotises Convention together."

"We did," she replied. "But well..." she looked away, rubbing her arm. "There was this little situation I came across and..."

"And?"

Prowl spoke up. "It had something to do with those strange Things she and Bumblebee encountered in that club," he explained. "From what Bumblebee told me Sari might have found the one responsible."

Now Ratchet was interested. He looked right at Sari. "You did?" he asked her.

She nodded.

"That's not all she found," Bumblebee spoke up.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The younger Autobot transformed, moving something small from the back seat to his hands. He stood in front the medic, holding a small figure before him. "_This_ is what I mean," he replied, holding it out for him to see.

Ratchet stepped toward the young Autobot and leaned forward to get a better look at what he was holding. He saw a black haired, pale skinned figure in clothes much too big for it lying limply in his hands. "A human?" he asked.

"Umm...," Sari said nervously. "I hate to break it to you, Ratchet, but that's not exactly a human."

"Not a human?" he looked down at her again. "What exactly are you saying?"

"I think," Prowl said, stepping forward. "That we should go somewhere else to discuss this. I don't feel comfortable explaining out in the open."

Ratchet sighed. "All right," he consented. "Let's head inside." he turned toward the plant. "We'll talk in the repair bay."

The others were agreeable and followed him into the building.

* * *

Lase studied the interior of the cockpit. It looked a lot like one you'd find in a normal harrier jet but a bit more cramped. Mostly because in robot mode the interior also served as protection for the spark chamber underneath. "Now," she said to herself. "How do you open this thing?"

She ran her hand over the controls and tried to read anything printed on them. Sadly the writing was in some strange language and she couldn't make heads or tails of it. "Of course you can't read it, Lase," she said sitting back in the seat in exasperation. "It's inside the body of an _alien robot_. What was you expecting anyway? English? That's too easy!"

She punched the panel. "I can't read Cybertronian!" she yelled to nobody. "Why did you have to be Cybertronian? Why couldn't you be in a language I understand? Even Norwegian would be better!"

She kicked at the panel but only succeeded in hurting her foot. moaning in annoyance she rubbed her now sore limb and glared at the thing. "I curse the very day Fowl brought you here," she growled at it. "Things were fine until this had to happen. What did I ever do to deserve this anyway?"

_"Oh, I am __**so**__ sorry. Do you want me to cry you an Energon river, fleshbag?"_

Lase jumped, gasping in startlement. The voice hadn't been in her mind. She jerked her head around, searching for the speaker. "Who's there?" she called out.

But there was no answer.

* * *

Bumblebee gently set the little human thing on the examining table. Ratchet turned on the scanner and slowly ran the device over the thing's body. As he did he looked at Sari and the two Autobots. "Now why don't you explain what this is all about."

Sari stepped forward and began to relate the entire tale. "It's like this, Ratch," she replied. "Dad and I went to that boring convention Detroit has every year and we met his one guy."

"A guy?" the medic asked. "What guy?"

"A Professor Andrew Fowl," she replied. "He seemed like a rival.. I think he's Irish or something from his accent. He doesn't seem to like my dad much. Anyway; he kind of confronts Dad about his work and starts discussing his own robotics project."

"What was that?"

"He called it the new evolutionary step for humanity." the girl rubbed her head as if the thought of what he meant hurt her brain. "As far as I know, combining robotics with human DNA isn't exactly natural or "evolutionary"."

"No, it's not," Ratchet replied. Since he was a medic he'd done some research on evolution because he figured it would help him with human anatomy. "and I doubt human evolution will ever do something like that without help." he looked at the computer screen. Nothing yet. "Go on."

"Anyway he started talking about combining robotics with humans and that got me curious," she went on. "I mentioned about putting the wires and stuff into corpses. he said only an idiot would do something about that but by the look on his face, you could tell he was trying not to give anything away." she shook her head. "I think he was the one responsible for it."

"Is that when you called me?" Bumblebee wanted to know.

She nodded. " Actually it was a little bit later," she corrected. "I saw him leave the convention and decided to follow him to see if my hunch was true," she replied. "I kept a good pace with his car for quite awhile and then.." she pointed at the limp figure on the table. "Then that person there came flying at me." she thought a moment then added. "I think it had wings.."

The Autobots looked at one another. '"Wings, Sari?" Prowl asked her. "Are you sure?"

"No," she answered. "I only got a glimpse and it was dark so I might have been seeing things but if it didn't have any it must be able to defy gravity somehow." she shrugged. "anyway that thing slams into me and we both wind up on the ground."

"Is that when your commlink went out?" Bumblebee asked.

She looked at him. "I don't know," she told him, putting her hands on her hips. "I was too busy fighting to notice."

"Well anyway," Prowl cut in. "What happened next?"

"I fought with the thing," she replied. "At first I thought it was just a normal human being that the guy had messed with but.." she looked over at the figure. "I am not sure anymore..."

Before anyone could ask her what she meant, the computer started beeping. Ratchet moved to the console and brought up an image. The moment he saw it his optics widened in surprise. "By the light of Vector Sigma.."

"What is it, Ratchet?" Prowl asked.

The red and white robot turned back to them. "Why don't you see for yourself?" He moved away to make room for them in front of the screen.

Instantly Prowl and Bumblebee stepped forward. Both studied the X-ray image of the human-like figure lying on the table. What they saw they weren't exactly expecting. "That doesn't look like any human heart I've seen," Prowl commented, his optics focused on the circulatory system.

"Unless the heart suddenly got robotics put into it," Bumblebee added, his face so close his nose almost touched it. "Is that metal?"

"That's only the it of the asteroid," Ratchet said. "Keep looking."

So look they did and by the time they were done they seemed a little nervous. "That doesn't make any sense," Prowl said, turning from the processor tried to comprehend what he had just seen. It could do no such thing.

"What?" Sari asked, stepping forward. "What is it?"

He put out his hand and let her climb on then moved it so she could see the images too. Her blue eyes widened. "That doesn't look the least bit like my own insides."

"They're not," Ratchet told her. "and I don't think that was the intent."

"But a _metal_ skeleton?" she asked. She looked at the figure. "What is that? Some kind of Wolverine clone or something?"

"_She_," Prowl spoke up.

"What?"

"She. See the way the body's curved and the growths here?" he asked, pointing at the screen. "That's a female. We just couldn't tell before because of the coverings."

"What gender it is doesn't make a difference," the medic spoke up. "What matters here is how she wound up that way and who is responsible."

"We know who's responsible, Ratch," Sari reminded him.

Ratchet nodded. "Yes, the human Fowl." he moved toward the girl on the table and looked down at her. From the outside she looked totally human. "But what was the purpose? I don't think it was to better humanity. I believe this scientist you mentioned has a different reason, a not so friendly one."

"What do you mean by that?" Bumblebee wanted to know.

Ratchet shook his head. "I can't answer that right now." his optics focused on the girl. "But maybe _she_ can."

Prowl stared at the girl on the table. _I wonder what she can tell us? _he thought to himself. _Does she even know? and if she does, can she really explain how she wound up the way she did? _he looked back at the screen. _Metal skeleton. Robotic vital fluids. An organic heard and brain.. techno organic flesh.. just what exactly was that man trying to accomplish anyway?_

* * *

Professor Sumdac finished his speech later than he expecting. After his presentation some people had wanted to ask question. While a Q&A had not been planned he decided it couldn't hurt. Most of the questions had required long big worded answers and a few people needed him to use simpler words. By the time he'd finished it was after ten.

After he climbed down from the stage he'd gone looking for Sari ready to apologize for taking so long. He knew she hated these things and was probably bored out of her mind. He looked around the building but could not find his daughter. "Sari?" he said, poking his head in the lady's room. "Are you in here?"

The only person inside was a red haired woman. When she saw him peeking in, she screamed and threw her purse at his face. "Do you mind? This is the lady's room!"

"I'm sorry,." Sumdac said closing the door before she threw something else.

So Sari wasn't there either. Where was she then? Had she decided to go home? That answer seemed logical. Sari had brought her jetpack along when they'd left the tower earlier that evening. She'd explained that if she got too bored she'd take it and head back home.

_That must be what happened, _Isaac figured, heading to the parking lot. "Where else would she go?"

Once he was in the parking lot, Sumdac noticed Fowl's Corvette was no longer in its parking slot but didn't think much of it. He'd seen the man leave the room during his speech but didn't think anything of it. The Irishman always had some kind of vendetta against him anyway. Fowl thought Sumdac was a narrow minded nutcase standing in the way of _real_ science and Sumdac considered Fowl a crack. Nobody really took the man seriously and many times his own work had been considered unscientific. With such bad publicity and open dislike, Isaac couldn't blame him for leaving early.

"When he becomes a real scientist and gives up on that crazy theory of his, he won't have such a bad time anymore," Sumdac said to himself as he crossed the parking lot toward his car. "I might even hire him if he asks."

He reached his own car which was parked in his designated spot. He unlocked in and climbed in. After strapping himself in he put the key in the ignition and started the car then pulled out of the parking lot and into the street.

But just as he entered traffic a black corvette shot past him, nearly knocking him off the road. He gained control of the vehicle easily then parked it and stared at the window at the car's retreating taillights.

_What in the world was that about? _

* * *

"I think Bumblebee should take Sari home now," Ratchet said. "It's getting late and I don't think Professor Sumdac knows where she is."

"Now?" Sari asked. She looked at the unconscious girl. She had wanted to be there if and when she woke up. "Can't you just call Dad and tell him where I am?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but by now your father will be wondering where you are."  
"But I wanted to be here when it woke up," the girl protested. 'I have some questions of my own I want to ask her and-"

"I don't think she'll be waking up any time soon," Prowl said, looking back at the X-ray image. "I hit her with the EMP. It'll be awhile before she gains enough energy to come back online."

Sari didn't comment. She knew he was right. It had taken her hours to awaken herself when Ratchet had hit her with the EMP last summer. If it worked like that with her, it most likely would have the same effects on the other girl. She sighed. "All right," she consented. "But when she wakes up please call me."

Ratchet was agreeable to that. "Sure, kid," he consented. He looked at Bumblebee. "Want to give her a lift, Bumblebee?"

The younger Autobot was agreeable. He nodded. "Sure." he went to join Sari. "Come on, We'll take the long way home."

"Maybe it should be the short way," she said as she followed him out of the room. "It's way past my curfew and Dad's going to be real worried."

When the two young bots were gone Ratchet and Prowl looked at each other. "Until then what do you think we should do with her?" the cyber ninja asked.

Ratchet turned his head to look at the tiny thing on the table. "She isn't a problem unconscious," he replied. "We'll decide what to do after she wakes up."

"What if she _doesn't _wake up?"

"Oh she will," the older robot assured him. "the EMP might have knocked her out but her vitals are stable." the medic gently covered the girl's body with her trench coat. "She'll come around when she's ready."

* * *

Lase slid off the soft leather seat and crawled carefully under the control panel. She slowly turned over until she was facing the bottom of the panel. Reaching up she ran her hands over the metal surface, searching for the section that came off. _If a car has something like that, then this jet should have one too, even if it __**is**__ the inside of a robot's chest. _

Finally her fingernails found the little indentation that let her know she'd found the spot. "Ah hah! I knew you had one too!" she pried at the slot until it came out in her hands. Setting it aside, she carefully reached her hands inside and grasped the wires. _If I rip these off the lid should open.._

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you."_

She gasped, yanking her hands out of the hole. The voice again. "Hello?" she called out, sliding back into the cockpit. She looked around the tiny space for the speaker. "Hello? Who are you? Are you trying to help me?"

No response.

Thinking she was hearing things she slid back under the panel and resumed her work on the controls. _I must be losing it. Those circuits Fowl put into me must be making me crazy.._

_"I wouldn't doubt it, fleshbag. Only __**I **__can stand those circuits without losing it."_

Instantly she was back in the cockpit. "All right, this has gone far enough! Show yourself right now or I'll-"

_"Or you'll what?"_

This time the voiced was behind her. She spin around but all she saw was the control panel and fogged up glass.

* * *

Her mind was blank except for one memory. Whether is was intentionally given to her or made no difference... it was painful. Fragmented images of dying painfully. But why she died or who was responsible was darkened by a black cloud.

Right now that memory was playing through her otherwise clear mind in the form of a nightmare. She saw light from a burning city and... robots... five robots in different sizes. They seemed to be trying to save the city. She hovered above them, watching their pitiful efforts.

For some reason the knowledge that they were not succeeding made her happy. She was glad they could not save the city. Let it burn to the ground. She threw back her head and laughed..

Then.. a fierce pain filled her forehead and something shiny came out of it before everything went black.

* * *

Ratchet heard the thing moving restlessly in its sleep state and turned to see what was wrong. He turned just as the girl let out a gasping breath and sat up straight. He watched her look around herself then freeze when she rested her eyes on him.

He felt he should say something. 'Hi-"

"You!" the girl screamed, jumping to her feet."You did this to me!" She raised her hands and shot a blast of red energy at him.

Ratchet instantly ducked to avoid the shot. It hit the computer screen, breaking the glass and sending shards flying in all directions. The girl ran to the edge of the examining table and fired at him again. "You won't get away with it, you murderer! You're not going to kill me again!"

He dived out of the way of the next blast, rolling to the side and getting behind a metal support beam. "What are you talking about?" he called to her. "I didn't kill anyone!"

"Liar!" she screamed, firing at the beam. "You killed me! You and your friends! Well I'm not going to let you get away with it! I'll teach you to take away the only thing keeping me alive!"

She shot more beams at him, determined to make him pay for something he hadn't been involved in. She might have kept it up for hours if a hand had not grabbed her from behind and picked her up off the table.

"What do we have here?" Optimus Prime asked, bringing her up to his face.

"Let me go!" she screamed, struggling to free herself. "You won't kill me that easily!"

Optimus make a confused face. "Kill you?" he asked. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you did it before!" she accused hysterically. "You and your freak robots pals! Well I won't stand by and let it happen this time! I'll break you all to pieces!" she wiggled in his grasp. "I'll teach you! I'll teach you all not to mess with me."

Optimus just stared at her, watching her weak attempts to get free. He looked over at Ratchet who'd come out behind the pillar. "Mind telling me what this is about?" he asked.

"Well," the medic said, walking over to him. "It's complicated...and could take awhile."

The Prime looked right at him. "I have time."

* * *

"Where did you run off to?"

Sari had just stepped into the Sumdac tower after being dropped off by Bumblebee when the voice startled her. She gasped then spotted the speaker. Isaac Sumdac, her father, stood at the edge of the staircase with his hands resting on his hips. By the look on his face she knew she had to be honest or face a huge punishment. "I well uh..." she stammered, trying to put the words together. "I uh..I got bored and left."

"I am aware of that," he informed her. "What I would like to know is where you went."

She sighed. Better get this all out in the open as quickly as possible. "I went after Fowl," she replied.

Sumdac blinked in surprise. "Fowl?" he asked. "Why would you want to follow him?"

She rubbed her arm. "Well," she began, not meeting his gaze. "Remember that incident Bee and I had a few weeks ago in the club?"

"Yes." After the Autobot's he'd been the only other person she told what had happened to. "What about it."

"Well I thought he might have something to do with it."

Her answer startled him. "Why would you think that?"

"He told us what he does for a living," she answered. "About putting robotics into humans or something like that. When I mentioned corpses with the circuitry in their bodies the look on his face made me wonder."

"You think he's responsible?"

"What other nutcase would do something like that?" she asked, looking at her father. "He looks like the type of person who would do something like that."

"But you don't have any proof." he pointed out.

"No, I don't," the girl admitted. "That's why I went after him. I was hoping to follow him to his lab or wherever he went and find proof." she shook her head. "Unfortunately I lost him and..Bumblebee had to give me a lift back home." She had wanted to tell her father about the strange techno organic girl she'd run into but something told her to wait. He might be upset if she related that piece of information to him.

Professor Sumdac seemed to believe what she told him and didn't ask any questions. "At least you're all right," he said, walking over to her and giving her a hug. "But next time tell me before you decide to follow somebody around. I was worried about you."

She nodded. "I promise."

_A/N_

_Certain parts of this chapter remind me of a cartoon not related to Transformers, mostly the parts with Lase. I think my thinking might have been slightly warped because I've been watching X-men cartoons lately. And some fun stuff will happen in the next chapter. For now we have a few weird things going on that can't be dealt with further until later. _

_I honestly do want to bring Starscream back in this somehow but I'm having reservations. I don't know how or in what way it would contribute to the plot. Until I can think of one I won't do much in that area. _

_Happy Halloween._


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

It didn't take very long for Ratchet to recount the entire story from the part where Sari met Andrew Fowl at the Convention to what had happened when the girl had woken up. While the medic spoke the young lady began to calm down but she kept on shooting dirty looks at both him and Optimus Prime who'd felt it was safe enough to let her down and had set her back down on the examining table. It was obvious she was having a hard time believing what was being said, because she kept rolling her eyes which seemed to be a common human trait for teenagers.

When Ratchet was finished Optimus folded his arms and stared thoughtfully at the girl. "So you're saying she isn't exactly like Sari but not human either?"

"Yes, exactly," Ratchet said. He looked over at the destroyed computer screen. "Unfortunately I can't show you my findings. But I can tell you they were nothing I have ever seen before."

Optimus frowned. "She looks perfectly normal to me.."

"_Normal?!" _the girl exploded, jumping to her feet. She pointed her fists at his. They glowed red. "You call _this _normal, you freakin' rust-bucket? This isn't normal for _anyone_, especially me. I never used to look like this!"

Her words startled him. "No?" the Prime knelt down to look her in the eye. "So maybe then you can tell us who you are and where you came from."

"I'm.." the cut herself off. Suddenly it became clear to her that she could not answer that question. "I don't know who I am or where I came from."

Ratchet and Optimus looked at each other. They hadn't expected that or an answer. "Don't you remember?" the Prime asked her. "I mean everyone has a name. You can't even remember that?"

She shook her head. "No," she replied. "I can't."

"What about that?" Ratchet asked pointing at her neck. "You have some kind of imprint on your skin."

She put her hand over the spot. "I do?"

"Yes," he replied. "It says Nina. Could that be your name?"

"I don't know," she told them both. "If it is I'm not aware of it."

Optimus rubbed his chin with his hand. "Strange," he commented. "Could you by chance have gotten your memory wiped?"  
"I have no idea," she replied, putting her hands in the pockets of the trench coat she was wearing. "But if I did I think I know why and who did it."

The two Autobots looked at her expectantly. "Really?"

The girl glared at them both, her expression hardening. "Yes, because _you_ erased my memory!" she accused, startling them both with her out burst. "_You _did this to me when you killed me! I know it!"

Optimus looked taken aback by her accusations. He had no idea what she was talking about. "I-"

Nina clamped her hands over her ears. "No! I don't want to _hear_ it!" she screamed. "No lies! I won't have it!" she glared right at him her hands beginning to glow. "I'm going to teach you to do this to me and then lie about it!"

Suddenly she let loose an entire folly of red energy blasts. The Autobots dived for cover, narrowly avoiding being hit by some of the blasts. She ran to the end of the table and fired at them as they scrambled behind one of Ratchet's filing cabinets.

"What was that all about?" Optimus asked.

"I have no idea," Ratchet replied, looking at him. "But it seems she thinks we're somehow responsible for her death.."

"Her death?" Optimus was confused. "But we _can't_ be. She's not even dead. What in the world is she talking about?"

Just then Bumblebee who had just returned from taking Sari home, came into the room. "Hey, Ratchet I'm back. Is the girl-" he stopped when he saw her standing on the table with her red eyes lit up like lamps and her hands glowing a hellish red. "Hello there.."

She turned to him and with a blood curdling scream, threw one of the orbs directly at his face. He yelled in surprised and quickly ducked out of the way of the flying projectile.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, his optics bugging out. "What did I do?"

Instead of explaining she screamed again and fired more orbs at him. He moved about the room, avoiding them. As he ran by the spot where Ratchet and Optimus were hiding the Prime reached out and grabbed his arm, quickly yanking him down with them.

He looked right at Ratchet. "Whoa! What did you do to her?" he asked.

"I didn't do _anything_," the medic snapped. "She woke up like that."

"Well you must have done _something_," the young Autobot replied, peeking over the top of the cabinet. She spotted him and fired another shot. He quickly ducked back down. "Yikes! Primus! That girl's crazy!"

"Not crazy exactly," Optimus replied. "She must have a reason for what she's saying."

"What _is _she saying?" Bee wanted to know.

"That we somehow responsible for her death."

Bumblebee blinked his optics. "Death? Far as I can see she's very much alive."

"We know that," Ratchet said impatiently. "But she obviously doesn't seem to realize that or the fact that if we _had _killed her before we would have done so again."

"Then one of us should go out there and tell her," Bumblebee said.

Another red burst of energy shot over their heads, knocking one of Ratchet's tools off the top of the cabinet. It fell onto Bee's head. "Ow!"

Optimus smiled. 'Go right ahead," he encouraged. "Let's see how far you get."

The younger robot thought better of it. "On second thought," he said, rubbing his head. "I think we should wait until she calms down."

"Whenever that will be."

"Well she can't keep it up forever," he pointed out. "She _is_ still part organic. It shouldn't take long for her to tired out."

So they waited... and waited... and waited..

After an hour had gone by Ratchet looked at Bumblebee. "You were saying?"

* * *

After Bumblebee had left with Sari, Prowl had gone out for a drive. He came back a few hours later to find the base relatively quiet. While that wasn't exactly strange, the silence made the black and gold cyber ninja a little nervous. _Where is everyone? _he wondered as he stepped inside the plant, _ Did they go to their rooms for a recharge? _he yawned. _Speaking of recharging I think I should be going down for one about now. _

He headed down the hall toward his room, his processor on a good nights stasis.

The cyber ninja had only taken a few steps when he thought he heard the sound of fighting coming from further down the hall. _Huh? _he stopped walking and listened carefully. Yes, there was indeed some kind of confrontation going on up ahead. _Is that guns? We don't __**have**__ any guns!_ He knew of only one fraction who regularly used guns. _Decepticons!_

He took off down the hall. If Decepticons were in the base the others would definitely use his help. _Sparks! I thought he took care of them all!_

Prowl followed the sound to its source which was the repair bay. Taking out two of his shurikans he opened the door and burst inside, ready to take out the first Decepticon he saw.

But there were no Decepticons. In fact there wasn't a single enemy robot in the building. Only a girl in a baggy blue shirt with black hair. "Huh?"

Hearing him the girl turned to face him. He stood still, staring down at this tiny creature with deathly pale skin and glowing red eyes. For a moment neither said a word then Prowl, feeling he needed to say something, opened his mouth. "Uh hello.."

Suddenly the girl's eyes widened. Her expression changed from passive to terrified. Prowl wondered what was wrong. Before he could ask, she let out an audio piercing shriek and let loose two blasts of red energy right at his spark chamber.

Prowl's reflexes saved him a bruising. He instantly jumped out of the way, moving up instead of sideways. He flipped over her head and landed on the other side of the room.

The girl turned and fired another blast at him. "Murderer!" she screamed, as she did so. "Cold blooded, assassin!"

Prowl's optics widened as he stared at her. "_What_?!"

"Don't what me!" she cried hysterically, stalking over to the edge of the table. She jumped down off of it and came after him, her hands glowing brighter with her rage. "You killed me! You and that white freak!" she fired another blast. "I won't let you get away with it! I'll kill you, first!"

She shot a beam of red plasma energy from her hands. Prowl dodged to the side, narrowly missing being hit by it. As he jumped back to avoid more firepower, he noticed Optimus, Ratchet, and Bumblebee, hiding behind the cabinet. They were watching him with wide optics.

The girl was in high temper. Her eyes glowed brighter, the red filling the entire area. The cyber ninja noticed sparks coming from her arm and leg joints but she was so angry and determined to harm him that she did not notice them. "I will kill you!" she kept screaming. "I'll kill you and then your white freak boyfriend!"

Prowl moved to dodge another blast, unfortunately he was slightly distracted by the presence of his friends that he wasn't as fast as he usually would be. The tail end of it hit him hard in the leg, knocking him off balance and causing him to go crashing to the floor.

Groaning he pushed himself up just as the girl came running at him with murder in her blood red eyes. She'd only gotten a few steps when suddenly her entire body seized up.

Her expression changed from rage to surprise in an instant. "Wha-" the rest of her question was cut off by sparks that began shooting from every part of her body.

Right away he knew something was wrong. This looked similar to the incident Sari mentioned when she got into the fight with the girl. The only way to stop it was to hit the girl with an EMP blast. But Prowl couldn't do that this time. He'd given the generator back to Ratchet.

Nina obviously blamed him for it. Even in pain she continued to glare at him. "You-" The sparks grew worse, cutting off the rest of her accusation. She let out a scream of pain and terror. Her body began to glow red but before it could become as bad as before a blast of white light hit her in the back. Instantly the glow faded and the girl sank to the floor, unconscious.

Prowl watched her fall, relief suddenly coursing through his system. _What was that all about?_

"You all right, Prowl?" Ratchet's voice cut into his thoughts.

He looked up just in time to see the EMP generator on the medic's arm power down and disappear inside it. "Yes," he replied, slowly getting to his feet. "She didn't damage me."

"She's sure got a temper on her, doesn't she?" Bumblebee spoke up, climbing out from behind the cabinet with Optimus Prime. "She did the exact same thing when I came in here."

"But why?" Prowl looked at Ratchet. "What happened?"

The medic shook his head. "That I can't tell you."

Prowl knelt down and picked the girl up off the floor. Now that she was unconscious she didn't look the least bit threatening. "She must have a reason for acting the way she did," he said, thoughtfully. _White freak boyfriend? What did she mean by that? _"But from this little performance I don't think she'll be willing to tell us without attempting to take us out." he looked at the others. "I think maybe we should put her somewhere until we figure out why she reacted the way she did."

Optimus nodded. 'That's a good idea." he reached over and gently took the girl from Prowl. "I think I know where to put her."

The two stepped out of the room.

Once they were gone Bee looked over at Ratchet. "Why did she seem so angry at Prowl?" he wanted to know. "Why did she seem more determined to kill him than any of us?"

Ratchet shrugged. "I can't answer that."

Or could he?

The girl had mentioned something about being killed by Prowl and a white comrade. Could that mean...? No.. she was obviously mistaken.

* * *

Sari did not receive a phonecall that night and went to bed thinking about the strange non-human girl and Fowl.

_I keep getting the feeling that that freaky guy was somehow responsible for what happened to her, _she thought as she stared up at the canopy of her bed. _Why else would she have come from the exact direction the professor was going? and if he __**did**__ do something to her what was it and why do I get the feeling that it is not something legal?_

Of course the man's work didn't seem right anyway. Morally or lawfully. She knew that and by the way her father reacted to the man she knew he knew it too as well as the entire scientific community. What he was doing was a taboo but the irishman didn't seem to care about it in the least. From what she got from her encounter with him he thought very little of his own species.

_Nut case, _she thought, turning over to switch off the light. _ That's all he is. A freaky, grave robbing nut case. _

The next thing she knew her alarm clock was waking her up. Without opening her eyes she groped around until she found it then slapped the power button. She sat up and yawned hugely, stretching her arms out.

Now she did open her eyes. She noticed that the shadows were pretty long and realized that it was late morning.

"What?!"

Instantly she looked at the clock. "Eleven o' clock!" she exclaimed, grabbing the clock. "How could Dad let me sleep so late!?"

She instantly jumped out of bed and bolted out of the room. Professor was in the livingroom/dinning room area, sipping a mug of coffee. When his daughter charged into the room he didn't even look up. "Good morning, Sari," he said, paging through his newspaper. "Did you sleep well?"

"Why didn't you wake me up!?" she demanded crossing the room and standing over him with her hands on her hips. "I wanted you to wake me up if the Autobots called. Why didn't you?"

"Because they didn't call," he replied, sipping his drink.

She blinked. "They didn't?"

He shook his head. "No," he replied. "Nobody has called all day." he looked up and studied her face. "What's that look for? What did you want them to call you for anyway?"

Sari clammed up right then. Sumdac noticed.

"Sari," he said, giving her a look. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing!" she said a little too quickly. "It's not important. I was just ...uh hoping Bumblebee might want to uh... hang out today that's all."

The look on her father's face told her that he didn't believe a word.

"Well I uh.. I gotta go," she added, stepping away from him. She spun around and headed toward the door. 'Toodaloo!"

"Just one moment, young lady!" Sumdac shouted before she could escape. She froze in mid-run and looked back at him. Now he was standing with his arms folded. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what this is about."

Sari sighed and hung her head. _So much for keeping it from him. _"All right," she said, turning back to him. "I might as well get it all out in the open because I know you're going to find out anyway..."

* * *

The pounding had been going on for the past three hours. Every one of the Autobots knew what was causing it and did their best to just ignore it.

"Let me out!" Nina's voice could be heard screaming as she kept up the relentless pounding. "You have no right to hold me prisoner!"

Prowl, who was getting upset himself, looked over at Optimus. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked him.

The Prime nodded, his mind firmly made up. "Yes," he told him. "Until she calms down and is ready to tell us what she's talking about we're not letting her out of there."

Prowl looked back toward the door. "You're right," he consented. "But it still feels wrong to confine her like that."

"She tried to kill us!" Bumblebee protested over hearing the conversation and wanting to put his two cents in. "She's way too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely." he glanced toward the door. "I say let her stay where she is until we can speak to Professor Sumdac about it."

Telling Professor Sumdac about the girl had been Optimus idea. He figured the man might be able to tell them something about this Fowl person and the process he was using to create such things.

Prowl had to agree. Maybe Professor Sumdac could tell them something. Any form of information would be helpful. He looked back at the door. "But I don't think he'll be able to give us anymore data on that girl then we already know." Something heavy slammed into the door and it almost flew off its hinges. Prowl looked at Optimus. "I think maybe it would be a good idea to put her somewhere else before she breaks out."

"When I get out of here you're going to wish I'd stayed dead!"

0000

Lase had given up trying to escape Starscream's cockpit. No matter what she did she still could not get out. She lay against the seat, sleeping soundly for the time being. While she slept she dreamt about the thing that escaped from the lab.

It was running around the city, shooting beams of pink and red energy, laughing like it all was a big joke. She saw it come upon five giant figures, the Autobots, she knew without even seeing their faces.

It laughed at them and started shooting. One of the Autobots, jumped over the others and came at her. A strange devise activated on its arm and it shot at the smaller figure. The pink light enveloped it and the next instant the thing lay on the ground, offline.

That's when the dream changed. The thing and the Autobots vanished and were replaced by one thing. Starscream. He was hovering over the city but when he spotted her standing on the roof of Sumdac tower he flew at her then hovered there, grinning a vampiric grin. _"Time to wake up, fleshbag. You're recharge is over."_

Lase jerked awake with a gasp.

For a second a strange white haze hovered before her eyes then she blinked and the thing vanished. She jumped in startled meant then looked around. "Hello?" _Are you here again? Who are you?_

Still no response. She climbed onto the seat and stood on her knees to look out the window. Fowl had not returned which told her that he was still out there, looking for his freak creation.

_I hope you never find it, _she thought bitterly. _I hope it gets away or dies before you can take it and use it for your own gain. _

But she knew she was only wishing. Even though the other specimens had died during development this one had refused. It seemed to be stubbornly clinging to life for some reason. She put her face in her hands. _What if there's a reason for that too? It was so desperate to stay alive I doubt it'll die now_. she clenched her hands into fists. _I wish it would. If it stays living who knows what will happen to it. It would have been better if it never got this far. _

She dropped her head. _I never should have taken this job. My life would have been better if I had found something else to do, even if it was just flipping burgers. __**Anything **__would have been better than this. _she slammed her fist against the seat. _Yes, at first it seemed okay even if Fowl is a pervert. But now.. what am I to him anyway? An incubator? Something had can violate to get what he wants just to create more freak babies? This is my body! He has no right to be doing this to me! I'm glad they all died. I never wanted them to begin with. _

_"What a thing to be saying about a part of you." _the voice said again. _"How selfish of you." _but the voice wasn't scolding. It seemed amused. _"But then again it's obvious you think you're more important than it. Not that that's a bad thing."_

She lifted her head and looked up. The voice sounded like it was in front of him but she still saw nothing.

_"Congratulations, fleshbag. You have just shown your true colors."_

"Who's there?" she demanded, looking around. "Where are you?"

_"I'm right here. Go ahead and look for me, you lazy little piece of meat."_

The implanted circuits in her body began to throb. Moaning she curled up into a ball and clenched her teeth together. The pain was worse this time. _They're rejecting me. They're telling me I never should have gotten them. _now her right eye began to hurt too. It felt like it was trying to escape its socked. _I never asked for them!_

_"Hurts doesn't it?"_

"Are _you_ doing this?" she whispered, sensing a presence she could not see. "Is this _your_ doing? Why are you punishing _me_? It wasn't my fault. I never _wanted_ this!"

_"Punishing you? I'm not punishing you. I'm doing it because I enjoy it."_

"En-" A shock coursed through her body and the implants screamed in protest. She gasped out loud then went limp, her body slumping forward onto the control panel.

* * *

As Sari explained everything that had happened the night before her father's expression changed from stern to wide eyed amazement. It was obvious that this wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear.

When she was finished he just stared at her, dumbfounded.

"Hey, that's what happened!" she said defensively. "I know you probably don't believe me but-"

"Did I _say _I didn't believe you?" he cut her off.

"No but-"

"Why didn't you tell me this last night?"

"Well.." she had to think about that. "I didn't think you'd believe me and I figured you might, you know, freak out or something."

Sumdac gave her a look. "Sari, don't lie to me," he said. "Just admit that the reason you didn't tell me was because you thought I might get angry because this proved that Fowl's work was doable."

"Something like that," she admitted.

"Sari," he said. "I was never worried that he would actually be able to _create_ such a thing. I was worried about what would _happen _once he _did_."

"What d you mean?"

He got up and stepped away from the table. "I will answer that question once I see the finish product for myself," he replied. He walked toward her and grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

_A/N_

_In case you're wondering where Bulkhead was during that whole fiasco he was out hanging with Scrapper. Actually the name Nina is an acronym. N.I.N.A. I just have to figure out what each of the letters stand for. _


	7. Chapter 6

_It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now I'm having reservations. Maybe I should give it up for now and try again later. _

CHAPTER 6

Nina slammed her body heavily against the door, hoping to break it open. She bounced off it and hit the dirty linoleum floor. Her elbow hit it hard and pain shot up her arm. "Ow," she moaned, rubbing her sore joint. "That hurts." She glared up at the door which refused to give.

Door: One. Nina: Zero.

"Why won't you _open_?" she screamed at it, jumping to her feet and slamming her entire body against it one more time.

Once again she bounced off, landing heavily and scraping her knees. Wincing and cursing under her breath she sat back and inspected the damage. It was bleeding a little but didn't look too bad. She froze when she realized the bood was a strange color. Sort of pinkish purple. Her red eyes widened with rising panic.

_What has happened to me? _She lifted her head and looked at the stubborn door. _What have __**they **__done to me?_

Right away she was on her feet again and once more continuing her attack on the door. _I will escape this time! It won't happen again!_

* * *

The energy bolt that slammed into the door hit it so hard that Bumblebee, sitting on the other side and dozing slightly, jumped three feet into the air.

"Whoa! What was that?"

"Bumblebee, get away from there!" Optimus ordered sharply from his place by the plant entrance. "Who gave you orders to sit there anyway?"

"Nobody," the younger robot replied, walking toward the Prime and absently rubbing the back of his helmet. "I just figured it might be a good idea to have somebody guarding her in case she broke out."

Optimus folded his arms and looked at him impatiently. "And what you have done if she _had_?" he wanted to know.

Bumblebee couldn't think of an answer fast enough. It was obvious the option never crosses his processor. "Uh.. I would have contacted you?"

"And not tried to stop her yourself." the Prime stated.

The yellow robot felt he could justify that piece of knowledge. "Well she tried to _kill _me!"

"She tried to kill me too but that doesn't give me liberty to run away from her," he pointed out. "Not that I would, since then it would allow her to run loose in the city and we can't have that."

"Well I uh..." Bumblebee couldn't think of any more excuses.

"Just forget about it," his superior said, waving it off. "Professor Sumdac just contacted me. He's coming over to get a look at her."

Relief showed on the younger bot's face. "That's good," he said. "Maybe he can take her to the tower and..."

Optimus shook his head. "That might not be a good idea."

"What is that supposed to mean?'

"I'm just saying that that probably won't happen."

"Why?"

Optimus didn't feel like answering anymore questions. "Just let it alone for now," he advised, turning away. "You will see when Professor Sumdac gets here and explains things."

"What things?" Bee wanted to know. "He doesn't even know how Sari wound up the way she did, how can he possibly be able to tell us how that _thing_ wound up the way it did."

Optimus gave him a look. "She is not a _thing_, Bumblebee," he said correctively.

"No? Then _what_ is she?"

"That's what I am hoping Professor Sumdac will be able to tell us."

* * *

Professor Sumdac and Sari arrived at the plant a half an hour later. On the way Sumdac told his daughter that he already knew about the girl from Optimus Prime who had called him earlier that morning.

"But I thought you said nobody had called," she said, looking at him with wide, blue eyes.

"Nobody called for _you_," he corrected, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Oh."

When the two entered the building ten minutes later Bulkhead was there to meet them. "Hi Professor, hi Sari," he said.

"Hello, Bulkhead," Isaac greeted him. "Is Optimus Prime here?"

"He's in the other room, waiting for you."

Sumdac thanked him and headed toward the living room area. Sari stayed behind and looked up at Bulkhead. "So anything happen after I left last night?"

"I don't know," he answered, shrugging. "I wasn't here but when I came back this morning the others had something locked in a room so maybe..."

The techno organic girl looked surprised. "_Locked_ in a room?" she asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed. He looked the way the professor had gone. "I heard it trying to get out. Whatever it is, it sounds angry."

_I'd be angry too if somebody locked me in a room. _"Did you ask the others about it?" she wanted to know.

He nodded.

"What did they say?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much," he replied. "They just told me that it was some angry girl and they were keeping her in there so she wouldn't hurt herself." he looked doubtful. "From the looks on their faces I think it might be the other way around."

"Wha-"

"Never mind." he turned away. "It would be better if you found out for yourself."

Sari thanked him and run to catch up with her father. _They locked her in a __**room**__? _the very thought bothered her. _What did they do that for? What in the world do they think they're doing?_

Well she'd find out soon enough.

Sari entered the living room just in time to catch the end of Optimus' sentence. "..... and she blamed us for her death."

_Huh?_

"I see," Sumdac said, looking thoughtful. "Thank you for telling me. I'll be careful."

"I figured you might want to have a look at her yourself," the Prime went on. "Since you're a human maybe she won't go crazy when she sees you."

"I hope not." the professor looked around. "So where is she?"

Optimus pointed toward the door. "She's in there," he replied. "She created a ruckus awhile ago but it sounds like she's calmed down."

Sumdac looked up at him. "Calmed down?"

"I'll explain later."

Optimus went over to the door and slowly opened it up, peeking in to make sure the girl wasn't going to try to make a break for it. She was sitting on the other end, her legs tucked against her chest and her arms wrapped around them, looking pathetic. "Okay, it's safe to go in."

Sumdac stepped into the room as Optimus closed the door behind him.

"What did you tell him that for?" a voice asked.

The Prime turned to face the speaker. It was Sari. She was walking toward him with her arms folded. Something about her expression told him she wasn't happy. "Sari," he said. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough," she replied, shortly. "Now tell me what that was all about. Does that girl really think you killed her?"

He thought a moment then nodded hesitantly. "Yes, she does," he replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know," he told her. "That is just what she said."

_This sounds familiar. Could that be what she was referring to before when I fought her? _Sari had no way of knowing without asking her herself. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

It was clear by the look on the Prime's face that he didn't want to. "Come on," she pleaded, not liking to be out of the loop. "You told my Dad. What is so secret that you can't tell me too?"

"It's kind of complicated." he said evasively. "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't patronize me," she snapped, more annoyed than offended. "I'm not stupid. Whatever is wrong with her won't hurt me if you tell me."

Optimus sighed. She would just find out eventually. "Okay, fine."

* * *

Nina heard footsteps and looked up. Her blood red eyes took in a dark skinned older man in a green coat and black pants coming toward her. Though he looked like a scientist something about him told her that he wasn't going to do anything to her. Nevertheless she was still suspicious because it was obvious he'd come to see her after being contacted by her enemies. He probably wanted to study her, though the vibe she got didn't say he had a hidden agenda. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded, not about to take any chances.

"My name is Professor Sumdac," he replied, stopping before he got too close. He'd noticed with every step he'd taken she'd grown more and more tense. He didn't want to risk her erupting, not after what the Autobots had told him about her losing it in the repair bay. "The Autobots asked me to come here."

"I knew that," she snapped, glaring at him. "But that doesn't explain the why. What exactly do they want you to do to me?"

"Nothing," he replied. Her eyes narrowed and he knew he had to be honest. "All right. They wanted me to look at you and-"

"See what I'm made of?" she asked sarcastically. "See what makes me tick?" she raised her hand it and glowed red. He tensed but she didn't fire at him. "In case you're wondering I don't know _how _it happened. I woke up like this."

"You woke up?" he asked. _Does that mean she was kidnapped? _"Do you know how you ended up where you were?"

The girl shook her head. "No," she replied. "I have no memory of a former life." she made a fist and the light went out. "The only memory I have is of dying from a head wound."

_A head wound? _"Do you know who was responsible?"

She looked at him sharply. "Yes," she replied. She pointed an accusing finger at the door. "Those robot freaks! They did it! They killed me!"

"But if they killed you how does that explain that you are living now?" he questioned.

"I don't know," she spat, looking away. "All I know is that I died and they are responsible."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. "Does that one memory show you that it was them?"

"It shows me enough," she responded, refusing to look at him. "and that is good enough for me."

_And yet she won't reveal what it is. _he thought. _She's hiding it for some reason. Maybe it tells her less than she wants to admit and is only blaming the Autobots because they might be in it briefly. _"Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Why don't you leave me alone?"

"I just want to help you," he prompted.

Now she did look at him. Her expression had hardened. "No," she replied. "You do _not _want to help me. You are a scientist. You just want to study me and find out what makes me tick." she stood and faced him. He noticed she wasn't wearing much under that jacket except for a long, baggy shirt. "Well let me tell you something, Bill. I already know what makes me tick."

"You do?"

"Yes," she replied, walking over to him. Her hands started glowing. "It's my desire to make everyone who is responsible for this sorry. I never asked to be this way and I sure as hell never asked for a nosy scientist like you to come snoopy and pretending to be my friend and understanding just so that he can make me trust him and then stab me in the back." her eyes started glowing. "Find yourself another specimen."

"I am sorry," he said, backing away. "I wouldn't do anything like that."

"Don't lie to me," she snapped. "It's happened once. Why should this time be any different?"

"Once? What do you mean?"

She smiled, it wasn't pretty. "Why don't you ask _them_."

* * *

Fowl returned to the lab, feeling discouraged. After the tracer chip had fizzled out on him he'd driven blindly around the city, trying to get the signal back. But it never rebooted. That could mean one of two things. The chip was damaged or his creation had never woken back up. _Hopefully it's the former and not the latter, _he thought as he climbed out of the car. He slammed the door shut and headed into the hanger, absently locking it as he went.

Once inside he stopped to look over at the dead, gray shell of the Decepticon. Nothing had changed.

_I wonder if that little slut is dead yet? _Part of him wanted to check and make sure. It was real tempting.

He turned away and headed into the lab. _If she is she can just stay in there and rot..._he stopped. _But if my creation dies I will need her to create another. _he looked over his shoulder at the cockpit. _Okay. So here's hoping she is still alive so I can use her further. _

Then he faced forward and stepped into the lab, closing the door behind him.

The scientist looked at the broken tank for a moment then went to his computer. He sat down in the chair and pressed the Wake button on the keyboard to bring the system out of sleep mode. The screen lit up on the last image he'd brought up on the screen. The inner workings of his creation. When he left he had failed to exit the program. _Luckily nobody broke in. _He thought, exiting the program and accessing another file.

Fowl looked back at the broken tank again. By now the floor had pretty much dried. The glass was still there but he would worry about that later. _It is fascinating that my creation was powerful enough to resist the sedative and to break free from its confinement without help, _he thought to himself. _That is exactly what I wanted but still. It was not the time for it to be awakened. It still had awhile to go before it was fully mature. _

He turned back to the computer and called up the file. "Now that it has awakened everything kind of acceleration I put into it has stopped. Whatever age it woke up on is the age it's going to mature from now on like a normal person." he sighed and rested his forehead on his finger tips. "I just hope it wasn't the teenage years."

* * *

A sound jolted Lase back to reality. She sat up even though the implants in her body screamed at her. Somebody obviously wanted her to stay out longer. Doing her best to ignore it she slid back onto the seat and got onto her knees. Resting her hands on the edges of the hatch she peeked out into the hanger. The lab's door was open. _It wasn't before. Does that mean Fowl is back?_

_"Ah, my violator." _the voice spoke behind her. _"Probably searching for my spawn. Why don't we go out there and give him a piece of our minds?"_

The woman ignored the taunting voice, knowing full well paying attention to it wouldn't help her in any way. She focused on the lab door, waiting for the irishman to return to the hanger. "Come on, show your ugly self," she muttered.

_"Try looking in the mirror, flesh-bag."_

"Leave me alone." she growled. "You're dead. Stop talking to me."

_"Little old Starscream can't die," _her tormentor taunted, a smile in his voice. _"He's immortal."_

_Of just perfect. _

"At least get out of my head then," she ground out.

The implants punished her for making such an order. She grasped the sides of her head and curled into a ball on the seat. Now the implant where her right eye was started throbbing. It felt like the eyeball was trying to pop out of its socket.

"Please stop!" she screamed, writhing in the seat. "I'm sorry!"

The pain slackened off slightly. She felt relieved.

_"By the way," _the voice spoke again. _"If I was you I would be trying to get out of here."_

_Yeah right. I can't do that. I've tried. _

_"Maybe I can help you. Try using the power you stole from me, flesh bag."_

_I didn't steal it. _she reminded the speaker. _Besides why do you want to help me anyway? You're a human hating Decepticon. I know it's not because you care about me._

_"That's right I don't care about you. But since I am stuck playing the voice in your head I figured I might as well put you to good use."_

Oh of course. Why else would he be bothering her besides making her suffer? Starscream was an opportunist. He'd use anyone and anything for his own gain. She wasn't sure what he wanted to use her for exactly but she was positive she would find out eventually. Whether he told her or she found out on her own. But if it got her out of that cockpit she didn't care.

_What do you want me to do? _

_

* * *

_

Sumdac decided to get out of there before the girl started going crazy. "I uh.. I'll do that," he said, already walking backward.

The girl said nothing. She watched him as he made his way slowly out of the room. He opened the door with his front still facing her and slipped out, quickly shutting the door behind him before she could pounce. Once he was in the safety of the livingroom area he sighed in relief.

"What did you learn?"

The professor raised his head and looked up at Optimus. "Not much," he replied. "She insists it's your fault."

"What about how she wound up the way she did?"

"She didn't say much about that," Sumdac replied, thoughtfully. "Though she did mention being used as a specimen."

"Then I was right," said another voice. "That Fowl person _did _do something to her."

Isaac looked up at spotted Sari sitting on Optimus' shoulder. _I wonder if he told her everything he told me? _"That piece of information isn't exactly hard to figure out," he told her.

"and we know the why but we don't know the how or where he got the technology." Optimus added.

"I think I know," Sumdac replied.

"You do?" now the Prime was really interested. "Where?"

"Decepticons."

"Decepticons?" spoke up another voice. Everyone turned to face the speaker. Prowl had entered the room just in time to catch the tail end of the conversation. "How do you know it Decepticons?"

"There is a very interestingly shaped birthmark on the girl's cheek," Sumdac replied. "It's design looks similar to a certain fraction symbol.."

Optimus and Prowl looked at each other. The girl had a Decepticon symbol on her body? So that's what that smudge was... "But even if that was true," Prowl spoke up. "How would this Fowl person get his hands on that technology?"

"I don't know," the inventor replied, shrugging. "Maybe he came upon it somehow..."

"But how...?" Optimus wanted to know.

"I think I know," Prowl spoke up.

Otimus looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Remember a few months ago when we defeated Megatron and you sent us all to look for Stascream's shell?" he asked. "Because you thought that the Elite Guard and the Council might want it?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Remember when I said I couldn't fine it?" when Optimus nodded he went on. "I believe I know exactly what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I think Fowl was the one who took the body," the cyber ninja concluded. "That would explain why I didn't find it when I arrived at the location where it fell."

"Why would Fowl want his body?"

"I think we have already answered that," Sari responded. She looked toward the room where they'd locked up the girl. "Now that I think about it it makes perfect sense."

* * *

Lase rested her hand of the hatch of the cockpit. _Okay, robot, I don't know what this will do but if you think it'll accomplish something then do it. _

_"As I said it will react to my thoughts. Since you stole some of my circuitry it will react positively to you."_

_I didn't steal- oh never mind. _she closed her eyes and concentrated. "Okay, fine. Just do what you have to do."

For the briefest second nothing happened then her ears were rewarded by a slight click then a low hissing sound. She opened her eyes to see the hatch slowly opening.

"It worked."

_"Of course it worked. My body would never reject me."_

Lase climbed out of the cockpit and onto the chest plate of the Decepticons body. She stood up and looked at it's face. As she did a jolt of anger and remorse shot through her at the same time. Only one of the emotions belonged to her, but she wasn't sure which one.

A tugging on her body pulled her away from it. _"Come on," _the voice spoke up. _"Forget about that for now. You can come back for that later."_

_What do you mean by that?_

_"You'll see." _

She wasn't sure she wanted to.

_

* * *

_

Fowl thought he heard a sound in the hanger and got up to investigate. He got up and made his way to the door. When he reached it he put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open. When he stepped into the room he discovered Lase slowly making her way off the chest of the robot's body. "Hey!" he shouted, running over to her. "How did you get out of there?"

The woman looked up to stare at him. When their eyes met he hesitated. Something about them didn't look right. _What is that look for?_

Suddenly she stood up straight and stared down at him with an ice cold expression. He noticed that the eye under the bandage was glowing. _"__**I don't have time to deal with you now," **_she said, in a strange voice. She raised her hand. "_**Back away, thieving fleshbag**_!"

A red glow lit up her hand and a red beam of light shot him square in the chest, knocking him back against the wall.

Before he could recover she jumped off the body and dashed toward the door. "Oh no, you _don't!" _the inventor shouted, shoving away from the went after her but it seemed like she'd suddenly gotten faster.

Lase shot across the room and toward the door. She didn't even stop to open it but put up her hands and crashed right through, breaking it off its hinges and sending it crashing to the ground. He reached the doorway just as she disappeared from sight.

_A/N_

_It must really suck to have started your life at a teenage year and to not have any memories of a childhood or family because of where you came from. How lonely can that be? By the way any power Lase has isn't hers. Starscream is just letting her use it for the time being. _


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So what should we do about her for now?" Optimus asked Sumdac. "We can't exactly keep her here because she thinks we're going to kill her."

"I would offer to take her home with me and Sari so I can study her further," the professor replied. "But I don't think she will come willingly if I offered."

"I can remedy that," Sari said grinning, her hands starting to glow.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Optimus told her, frowning. "Her powers are similar to yours and she'll most likely fight back."

"Oh." she powered down. "Then what do you suggest we do?" the girl wanted to know, folding her arms and resting her back against the wall. "You don't want her here but we can't exactly move her when she's just going to flip out."

"Maybe you could hit her with the EMP and take her out while she's unconscious?"

"Bumblebee!" Sari shouted, turning to face the yellow colored Autobot. He'd come into the room while they were discussing the girl and hadn't commented until then.

"What?" he asked. He shrugged and made a face. "I was just making a suggestion. It sounded like a good idea."

"I can't believe you would suggest such a thing!" she snapped.

"Hey, it worked before," he told her. "She's been hit by it twice already. I don't think it will hurt to hit her with it again."

"Yes, it would," Ratchet said, coming into the room. "The time between them is too close. If she is hit by it anymore it could kill her." he looked at Sari. "and don't use the excuse that since Sari didn't die from it she won't. That girl's inner workings aren't like Sari's. She does have some robotic components I can't describe right now but she is more organic than Sari."

"Is that why when she uses too much power or loses her temper it overloads?" Prowl asked.

The medic nodded. "Yes," he confirmed. "She cannot stand all that power. If she's not careful it could kill her."

The others couldn't believe what they were hearing. "So you're telling us that since she wasn't created the way Sari was the robotics are rejecting her?"

"Not _rejecting_ her exactly," Ratchet corrected. "Just taking awhile to accept the organic parts." he shook his head. "I don't know what that Fowl person was thinking doing something to a human body but it wasn't a good idea."

"Why don't we ask him when we find him?" Sari asked.

"How are we going to do that?" the medic demanded. "We can't exactly go over to his house for a chat, you know."

"Well if my guess is right the girl came from the direction of his lab," the girl explained, putting her hand on her cheek. "So it's likely she knows where it is."

"So let's ask her," Prowl replied, already heading toward the door.

Optimus grabbed his arm to stop him. "Let's be careful first," the Prime said when he looked back at him. "Remember what happened the last time she saw you?"

"Oh." How could he forget? The cyber ninja looked over at the professor. "Maybe you should open it."

Sumdac nodded and went to the door. He put his hand on the knob and opened it slowly, bracing himself for the girl to either hit him with something or attack him. Fortunately neither happened and within seconds he found out why. "No!" the older man gasped.

All five Autobots came up behind him. "What?" They looked in the room. It was empty.

"Where did she go?" Ratchet asked, looking around.

Sari peeked inside. One look told her everything she needed to know because it was so obvious. "I think I know," she said, stepping inside. She pointed to an open window. Below it was a large number of boxes piled on top of each other. "She must have climbed out through there."

"You mean she's loose?!" Bumblebee asked, panic showing on his face.

"It looks like it." Prowl turned and ran toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Bee called after him.

"Where does it look like I'm going?" the cyber ninja asked, looking over his shoulder. "I'm going to find her!"

"Not by yourself, you're not!" Optimus shouted, rushing to catch last thing they needed was for the cyber ninja to cause problems by drawing unwanted attention. "We'll cover more ground if we all go."

"Then let's get moving!"

* * *

Nina dashed down the street, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed. It had taken some time to stack those boxes high enough to reach the window and she'd worried that the Autobots might come in and see what she was doing. Luckily they were so busy talking to the professor that they hadn't bothered. She'd escaped without any problems. Now all she needed to do was get as far away from them as possible before they killed her.

She rushed down the street, block after block, not stopping or slowing down. She would have kept on going if she hadn't tripped over a curb and fallen. She hit the pavement hard, scraping her other knee. "Ow!" she complained, sitting up and grabbing the limb. It was bleeding and hurt like the most painful thing in the world. "Darn it!" she seethed through clenched teeth.

"Are you all right?"

The girl looked up to see a brown haired boy in blue jeans and a brown jacket leaning over and looking at her with concern.

"I am fine," she answered, getting up.

"Are you sure?" he asked looking her over, taking in the coat and baggy blue shirt. He noticed she wasn't wearing any shoes or socks.. or a skirt for that matter, the shirt was so long it could count as a mini dress though. "Because you look-"

"I said I'm fine," she cut him off, pushing past him. "Don't worry about it. You don't know me. Mind your own business."

"I was just trying to be helpful," he told her, offended.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "I don't need your help."

"I never said you did," he informed her. "But since you look like you might have run into some kind of trouble I thought I might help you get away from it."

"You-" she stopped. The angry expression on her face changed to confusion. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Why would you want to help a total stranger?" she asked, suspiciously.

He shrugged. "You could say it's because of the way I was raised," he replied. "Besides." he pointed at her. "You shouldn't exactly walk around dressed like that. You could get into big trouble."

She looked down at herself. "What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"

His face went slightly red. "It's not exactly decent."

"It's _plenty_ decent." she shouted then her expression changed back to confusion. "What's decent?"

The boy laughed lightly, shaking his head. He took a step toward her. She moved away. "Don't touch me," she ordered.

"Fine," he said., turning away. "If you won't let me touch you can you at least follow me?"

She did so. "Where are we going?"

"To my house."

* * *

Lase kept running until she was out of breath. Against a huge feeling of urgency that made her want to keep going, she forced herself to stop and leaned against the side wall of an apartment building, panting. "That wasn't a good idea," she said out loud. "You had no right to do that."

_"What did you want? That crazy flesh-bag to kill you or something?" _the speaker demanded. _"I can't use you if you're dead." _

"But this is _my_ body!" she protested. "What gives you the right to just take it over whenever you want?"

_"That's easy, meat face. You got parts of me in you so I have a right to use it however I please."_

_But why? _she wondered. _How could putting a little bit of circuitry into me from his body make this control freak decepticon get into my head? _

"How did you get in there anyway?"

_"That would take too long to explain," _the Decepticon replied, forcing her body to turn around, like a puppet on a string. _"Right now I believe we should keep moving."_

He seemed to know exactly what he wanted and where to go. She had no idea so she let him lead her away, though she felt her own control slipping away with each step. _Hopefully this won't last much longer. I don't think I'm going to like being his tool. _

_

* * *

_

Fowl rushed to his car and climbed inside, inserting the key into the ignition and turning it. The vehicle didn't start. He tried again, working the engine but all he got was a pitiful whine. Cursing his luck, he hit the dashboard but that did nothing more that hurt his hand.

_Perfect, just perfect, _he thought, glaring at the steering wheel. _First my creation gets away, then my only specimen, and now this! What else can go wrong? _and at that moment his cell phone rang.

Still glaring at the cause of his recent frustration, he raised the device to his ear and pressed the talk button. "Yeah?"

"Professor Andrew Fowl?" the voice on the line implored.

"This is him."

"You have been delinquent on your electric bill," came the flat reply. "If you do not pay us three hundred dollars we will turn it off in two days."

Fowl banged his head against the dash. _Wonderful... _"No worries," he told the caller. "The check is in the mail. It should get there by tomorrow."

"We hope so."

_So do I._

When the electric company hung up Fowl closed his phone and angrily kicked the car. _Crap!_

Just then the engine turned over. He smiled. Things were starting to look up.

* * *

They left at the same time but went in different directions. Professor Sumdac with Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead together, Sari rode inside Bumblebee, and Prowl went by himself, ignoring Optimus caution that he should stay with him. They all knew that the girl freaked out the most when she saw him and was likely to go nuts if he came across her. Going by himself just lifted the rate of him getting into a confrontation but he didn't care. Going alone was something he was used to and nobody was going to change his mind about it.

Besides he might be able to convince her that none of the Autobots wanted to kill her. It was almost like wishful thinking but he wanted to try it anyway, just to be sure.

"But how are we going to find her?" Sari asked, poking her head out of the drivers side window and scanning the sidewalk for a not so decently dressed girl. "You guys didn't put a tracer or anything on her, did you?"

"Not that I know," Bumblebee told her. "If Ratchet did he never told anyone."

"So then how in the world are we going to find her?" Sari demanded. "It's not like she's a super large robot who blows up things. She's a tiny human like me who blows up things."

"Maybe we should be looking for chaos then?" Bee asked, a grin in his voice.

She frowned, not amused. "Yeah right," she grumbled. "This is going to take forever."

Bee was thinking the same thing but he didn't say anything. "I guess we'll just have to keep looking until we see someone familiar."

"Thanks for stating the obvious."

* * *

Nina followed the boy all the way to his house but stopped when they reached the front porch. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning back to her.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," she told him, wrapping the coat around herself. "I'm not exactly "decent" as you put it. I doubt your mother would want me in the house."

The boy gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it," he replied. "You'll be fine."

She still wasn't sure. In the short time she'd lived nothing good had ever happened to her. Unexpected acts of kindness were a bit unknown to her.

The boy took her hand. "Trust me," he assured her.

She really didn't have a choice. It was either walk around out in the open and risk being found by the Autobots and the other guy or stay with him and hide. The latter sounded much safer than the former.

"All right," she consented. "But if this is a trick I'm going to make you pay."

The look on the kid's face told her he didn't really take her seriously but before she could prove her point, he grabbed the sleeve of her coat and tugged on it. "Come on," he encouraged. "She should be making dinner right now."

She nodded and they stepped into the house, entering the living room. Right away Nina noticed how nice the place looked. It was bright and cheerful, the walls painted a bright yellow color. She saw shelves full of knickknacks shaped like wolves and a brown plush sofa, chair, and wooden coffee table, parked dutifully in front of the entertainment system.

"Mom! I'm home!" the boy shouted.

A minutes later a woman with the same hair and eyes as the boy stepped into the room. She wore a white apron over her sweatshirt and blue jeans. ""Did you pick up-" she stopped her question when she saw Nina. For a moment she said nothing and Nina tensed, her hands forming into fists that began to glow faintly. If the woman did anything..

That never happened. The boy's mother looked at her son and asked. "Mark, who this this?"

Mark looked at the girl. "This is uh.."

"Nina," she said, not taking her eyes off the woman. If she made any suspicious movements those neatly arranged knickknacks wouldn't be so neat anymore.

Mark's mother looked unsure. She looked at her son, frowning. "Where did you meet her?" he asked him.

"She ran into me on the street," he replied. "She looked like she was in some kind of trouble so I wanted to help her out. " the boy glanced at Nina then back at his mother. "I told her you'd be willing to help too."

"I see," his mother looked at the girl. "Is that true?" she asked her. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

She nodded. "You could say that."

"What kind of trouble?"

Now the girl looked away. She focused her attention on the newspaper on the coffee table. A story on the cover caught her attention and gave her an idea. "I was raped?" she said, looking back at the woman.

Now mark's mothers eyes grew wide in horror. "Oh you poor girl!" she exclaimed, stepping forward to give her a hug. Nina flinched slightly when the woman got too close. "Please don't touch me."

Somehow that seemed to help authenticate her story. Mark's mother convinced her to sit down on the couch while she make her something warm to drink. For some reason, unknown to Nina, she gently draped a blanket over her shoulders, tucking it neatly. The girl figured that rape must be something serious if the lady reacted the way she did. When she was finished she left the girl alone and headed back into the kitchen.

Mark sat down beside her. He had a funny look on his face. "Why didn't you mention that to me before?" he asked her.

She shot him a glare and scooted away. "I thought it was obvious," she told him.

He didn't comment. "Well don't worry about it," he said. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so." the girl looked toward the kitchen. She noticed that his mother was on the phone. "What is that woman doing?" she asked him.

He looked where she was looking. "I think she might be calling the police.."

_Police? _a sudden shock of panic went through her. The police was bad. "No!" she exclaimed, getting up. "No police!"

Mark stared at her, worried. "But they will help you," he told her.

"NO!" she jerked around to face him. Her eyes were starting to glow. "I don't want that!" now her hands were glowing.

He continued to stare at her, not sure what to make of this. "But.. but.."

"I said _no_!" and this time she couldn't hold it in. A beam of red energy shot out of her hand and right into the coffee table. It lit up like a Christmas ornament then exploded, sending pieces of wood flying in all directions. Mark had to duck to avoid being hit by them.

The boy's mother turned her head when she heard the noise. Nina's eyes locked with hers for a moment then the girl turned around and bolted, slamming into the front door and knocking it off its hinges as she ran out. Both Mark as his mom stared after her for a moment then the woman asked. "What was that? Why did she run?"

Mark didn't know what to say so he said nothing.

* * *

Prowl happened to be going down that street when Nina burst through the door. She did not see him and ran right into the street. The cyber ninja swurved to avoid hitting her. She didn't even seem to notice him and went just past, unaware of the near accident she'd caused.

Something about the fleeing figure made him take another look. Putting on the brakes, he turned sideways and faced the way she was running. All he saw was the black haired back over her head and the long trench coat. Nothing that would really tell him who the person was.

But something told him to follow the figure. He started up his engine and drove after it, ignoring the nagging feeling that he should contact one of the others.

* * *

Lase walked quickly down the street, putting more and more distance between herself and her former employer. As she moved. it felt almost as if the taloned hands on the Decepticon seeker were digging into her pale shoulders, leading her rather forcefully down an undriven path. She had no idea where he was making her go but she hoped it wouldn't be some place dangerous. A nagging feeling told her he was.

_Byt where could he possibly be taking me? _she wondered. _His body is back at the lab. _

_"That is for me to know and you to find out."_

"Oh sure. Mind giving me a little hint?"

_"Yes, I do mind."_

She stopped. The moment she did she felt a pressure on her shoulders and the strong urge to keep moving. It took a lot of resistance to stay in one spot. "I deserve to know," she told him, turning her head to where she thought he might be if he were standing behind her. "This is my body, not yours. You're not going to force it into a dangerous situation just for fun." The pressure on her shoulders grew greater. She started feeling pain in the implants as well but refused to focus on them. "Tell me or we are not going any further."

_"Who are you to boss me around, flesh creature?"_

"I am the one who owns this body," she informed him. "and without me you'd still be stuck floating around with nobody to help you." she focused on the image of his face, she knew what it looked like. She cold almost picture him frowning angrily now, though she could not see him. "If you don't tell me what this is about I am going back."

She could almost see the panic that he was starting to feel. _"You wouldn't dare."_

"I would and don't doubt my word."

There was a silence. She could feel the pressure on her shoulders becoming greater than smaller, as if he was ungrasping and regrasping them. Finally he spoke. _"All right. I will give you one hint."_

She smiled. She'd won with him.

But what he said only confused her further. _"I need you to steal a key."_

* * *

Nina was quite a distance from Mark's house when she fianlly stopped to breathe. As she leaned against the wall of a bakery, panting, she mentally kicked herself for bolting. "Why did you do that?" she demanded. "They were only trying to help you! Now you're going to get caught by one of those robot freaks!"

That is what she asked but she knew the answer already. For some reason the very mention of the police scared her to death. She was irrationally afraid that the police might force her to go back to where she'd woken in the tank. That if they talked to her they would hold her until they found somebody who was related to or taking care of her. Putting her picture on the news would only attract unwanted attention.

"That is unacceptable," she told herself. "I won't allow it."

But what was she going to do now? She could not return to Mark and his mother, they would just turn her over to the police, but she could not just wander the city either. She was stuck.

_What other options do I have?_

None. None that she could think of. So she decided to just keep moving. Maybe something would come to her as she walked.

But she didn't get very far. Suddenly a black and gold motorcycle was blocking her path, preventing her from going any further.

_A/N_

_FYI: By now you might be wondering. How did Starscream end up inside Lase's head? That answer is kind of complicated. I can't exactly explain it right now. What's with the boy and his family? Easy. It's called character development. I don't want her to stay an angry psychotic through the whole story. This will help her out a bit even if she doesn't understand things right away. Actually I'm not sure if the thing with the kid and his mother was a good idea to be honest. It might just turn into one of those things that happen but are never mentioned again. _

_I would not mind a little help, with later chapters, though. I'm a little stuck, though I now have a pretty good idea what I want Lase to do. _


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Nina backed away from the motorcycle, that death memory in her mind flashing to the cyber ninja that was responsible for killing her. Though she had not seen him in vehicle mode before, the colors gave away who he was. If he was here by himself that meant he was going to kill her without any witnesses. She turned around and bolted.

Behind her she could hear its engine turning over and looked over her shoulder just as it turned and came after her.

She screamed in panic and jumped into the air, landing on the lid of a dumpster and falling inside. She tried to get up but found herself tangled in a fish net. Outside the waste disposal unit she heard the motorcycle put on the breaks then transform. The next instant her vision was filled with a dark face with a bright blue visor.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed at it, struggling to free herself or at least one of her hands so she could shoot him.

The robot ignored her order, reaching his hand inside the dumpster in an attempt to grab her. She freed her one hand and shot a red energy orb at him and he jerked his hand out, flicking it in pain. She smirked, maybe now he'd think twice before trying to pick her up.

But he surprised her. Instead of leaving her alone he grabbed up the entire dumpster and walked away with it.

Nina panicked. She knew exactly where he was taking her. _No! I am not going back!_

She struggled more in a vain attempt to free herself. But the more she tried to get free the worse tangled she got. She eventually had to rest and settled in to wait.

* * *

Bumblebee and Sari didn't have any luck on their search. At one point they thought they had found the girl but it turned out to be somebody else.

"We might as well head back," Bumblebee said after a n hour of searching.

"Why?" Sari wanted to know.

"Because we're not going to find her," he replied. "She's either found herself somewhere to hide or she left the city."

"I doubt that," the techno organic girl said.

"How do you know?"

"She doesn't have anywhere to go," Sari told him. "So why would she leave the city?"

"Why would she _stay_?" he questioned. "There is nothing for her here either. She wants to get away from us and staying in Detroit won't help. We live here and patrol it. If she stays we're going to find her eventually."

Sari didn't argue. She knew he was right. Instead she looked out the car window and studied the people they passed, waiting to see somebody who looked out of place.

Nobody.

"So.." she said after a moment. "What if you are right? What then? How are we going to find her if she leaves the city? I mean it's hard enough to search this place with only the six of us, if she left the city we'll never find her unless we get help from Cybertron."

"I doubt the Elite Guard will be interested in finding a techno organic girl," Bee told her. "They are nervous around you. If they find out there are two of you..."

"Stop right there," she cut him off. "I don't want to know."

"Just stating the obvious," he replied. "It wouldn't be pretty."

The girl folded her arms and leaned back in her seat. "I would have preferred not knowing that," she informed him.

"You can thank Sentinel Prime for that," he said. "The glitch head is the one responsible for the anti-organic movement. You're lucky we're the ones that wound up on your planet instead of him."

"I don't even want to think about that."

"Sorry."

Just then Sari happened to raise her head to look out the windshield. "Stop!" she shouted.

Bee instantly put on the breaks but could not avoid hitting the person crossing the street. There was a thump then a flash of blond hair as the body bouncing off the hood.

"Uh oh!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands to her face. "I think you killed somebody!"

Sari opened the door and jumped out of Bumblebee so he could transform. She ran over to the person he'd hit, who was half laying/half sitting on the pavement. "Are you all right?" she asked.

The victim, a tall blond woman in a short white dress, lifted her head to stare at Sari. "I... I am fine," she stammered.

That's when the girl noticed the woman didn't look fine at all. Her body was covered in white bandages. One of them, slightly bigger than the other, covered her right eye. "Are you sure?" Sari asked. "Because you-"

"I am fine," the woman insisted, getting to her feet. She wiped off her dress and shook out her hair. "You didn't hit me hard enough to break any thing."

"But.." Sari pointed at her. "What about-?"

"It's nothing," the woman snapped, glaring at the girl. "Just mind your own business."

"Sorry..."

The lady's one good eye wandered off of Sari and focused on Bumblebee. For the briefest instant a perculiar look flashed cross her face then it returned to normal. With her eyes still focused on the yellow Autobot she took two steps back then turned and hurried away.

"What was that about?" Bumblebee wanted to know, looking at Sari.

"I don't know," the girl replied, looking thoughtful. "But there was something strange about the way she was acting..."

"Do you think we should follow her?" he asked.

The girl thought about it for a moment. "I think so," she said. "But we have to make it look like we aren't."

"Want me to contact Optimus and tell him about this?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "He might not be happy to hear that we are stalking some random person instead of looking for Miss Lab rat." she started walking. "If it does wind up being important we'll tell him."

* * *

_"Why weren't you more careful?" _Starscream's voice echoed in Lases mind as she limped away from the Autobots.

"I was being careful," she informed him. "That yellow Autobot wasn't watching where he was going and ran into me." she glared at nothing. "If it bothers you so much maybe you should have warned me. It's not like you couldn't see it."

_"I am not your guardian angel, flesh bag," _he shot back. _"I do not need to tell you everything."_

_If you're any kind of angel you're fallen. _"But if you want me to get that key for you the least you could have done was made sure I didn't get hurt," she stated, rubbing her leg which hurt but surprisingly hadn't broken. "If I die you will never be able to get that key for whatever reason you want it for."

_"I could find somebody else."_

"Like who? I am the only person who has these implants in me that is still alive," she responded. "All Fowl's other test subjects are dead."

_"But not our spawn."_

"Forcing that thing to help you might not be a good idea," she replied. "It is highly unstable. If you attach yourself to it it will most likely die on you."

_"You seem to know a lot about that thing."_

"I know because it happened to the others Fowl made," she told him. "It's only by some miracle that this one has lived as long as it has, but I don't think it will continue to do so."

_"Why do you say that?" _he demanded. "_How do you even know? It might just be the one subject that won't terminate itself."_

"If it is still alive." she stopped for a moment, looking around herself. She recognized this part of town. She shopped there often. "What are the odds of something like that living for more than a day?"

_"If it inherited some of my personality from those stolen parts, longer than you think."_

She laughed. "Oh because your will to live is so strong."

_"If it wasn't I'd be in the Well right now."_

_Well? _that was new. "What Well?'

_"That does not concern you. It is way too complicated for such an inferior brain as your flesh bag."_

"Inferior!?"

_"That is right. Only those with inferior brains think they know everything. You flesh bags think you know how the universe works. Let me tell you, you aren't even close in your assumptions. It's way more complicated than you think."_

"Oh really?" this should be good. "Why don't you enlighten me?"

_"It would be pointless to do so, hairless monkey. If I wasted my time telling you all of that we will never finish our mission, now would we? I think it is better that we focus on that for now."_

In other words he wasn't going to tell her because he figured she'd be too dumb to understand.

* * *

Prowl felt somewhat guilty for walking off with one of the cities dumpsters. He knew he was stealing but in this case he didn't think the city's residents would mind, especially if they knew what was inside it.

_She's not exactly what anyone would call a defenseless girl I am picking on. _he thought, hearing the girl attempting to free herself. _They would probably thank me for apprehending a major threat. This girl's powers might not be as strong as Sari's but they're out of control like her's were which means she's dangerous. _

"Let me out!" he heard the girl scream as she kicked at the walls of the dumpster. "You're not going to kill me! Just you wait! The moment you open that lid I'll take off your face!"

Prowl glanced down at the dumpster in his arms. _Yeah, they would thank me. _He looked around himself, getting a good grasp of where he was. It looked like he'd taken a wrong turn somehow. He didn't recognize this part of the city.

"Hmm..."

"Take a wrong turn, Autobot?" a voice spoke up, startling him.

The cyber ninja turned around. Behind him stood Starscream femmbot clone Slipstream. She was aiming one of her arm canons at him. "I thought they arrested you."

She laughed. "That's a good one," she said. "I was the only one who wasn't stupid enough to get captured by idiots like you."

"What do you want?"

"What do I _want_?" she laughed. "Isn't it obvious? I want to take you out. You just invaded my space and I have no intention of letting you get away with that."

"Your space?" he looked around himself. This part of town was rather run down. All he saw was abandoned warehouses. "You don't have very good taste..."

"Shut up!" she yelled, raising her arm and aiming at his head. "This is only temporary until I find a better base."

"You won't be finding anything if I can help it." he raised his arm, allowing the points of a throwing star to stick out between his fingers.

"You wanna fight, eh?" she said. The thrusters in her feet activated and she rocketed into the sky. "Fine with me!" she raised her arm and started shooting.

Prowl moved sideways to avoid being hit. He twisted around and threw the star at the femme. She dodged it easily and fired again. This time she hit something. The dumpster he was holding. It flew out of his hand and crashed to the ground.

Prowl didn't have time to see if the girl inside it was all right or not because Slipstream was firing again and he had to move to avoid being hit.

* * *

The dumpster hit the pavement hard, splitting it down the middle, though it did not fall apart. Nina, who was still inside, was bounced around and nearly knocked out of the waste disposal unit.

"Argh!" she yelped, bumping up and down.

The dumpster came to rest on its side. Nina fell over, still tangled in the net but now she could move somewhat. She turned to undo the threads, hearing what sounded like shooting outside the unit. _What's going on out there? _

She quickly got the net off and crawled toward the exit. Pushing the lit up, she peeked outside. She saw the black and gold Autobot fighting with another robot. This one was green and purple and looked like a girl, judging from its curved waist. _Looks like my murderer is distracted, _she thought. She climbed out of the dumpster and started to run away. _Good that will make it easier to get away from him. _

She took off down the street, putting as much distance between herself and Prowl as she could. But something was wrong. Her leg wasn't working properly. It hurt too. She slowed down and looked at the limb. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. _So why does it hurt so much? Did that bouncing around dislocate something?_

She heard a crash behind her and looked back just in time to see Prowl crash to the pavement. He landed only a few feet from where she stood. The impact made the ground vibrate and she was knocked off her feet.

Prowl groaned and pushed himself up. When he lifted his head he spotted the girl staring at him. He reached out a hand as if to grab her.

Nina freaked. "Stay away from me!" she shouted, raising her hand. A blast of energy shot out of her hand and hit him point blank. It was so powerful it sent him flying. He smashed into the pavement. She lowered her hand, her eyes wide.

"My my my, what is this?" a voice spoke up.

The girl looked up. The robot in the air was staring at her with an interested expression. Suddenly she swooped down and landed right in front of the girl. Nina attempted to run but her stubborn leg would not move. Instead she tripped. But she didn't fall because the green and purple robot caught her and pulled her upright.

"Uh.. thanks?" the girl said, staring at her in surprise. Something about this seeker seemed... familiar. "Do I know you?"

The robot laughed. "I doubt it," she said. "Unless you happened to get out of a house I blew up."

The girl shook her head.

"Then you don't know me."

"But you seem familiar," Nina replied. "Like..."

Suddenly the femme stiffened. Her optics widened for a moment and her face changed. She looked like she was having some sort of attack. But just as quickly as it began it ended. "Oh.. I see." she said, looking thoughtful. "You're one of _those_."

"One of what?"

The robot didn't seem to hear her. "Though I never thought he'd stoop to doing _that_."

"Doing what?! What are you talking about?"

The fembot opened her mouth to answer but then she heard Prowl groaning. He was coming around. "I think," she said, reaching down and grabbing up the girl. "We should discuss this somewhere else."

* * *

_"Don't look now, fleshbag, but I believe we're being followed."_

Lase paused and looked over her shoulder, expecting to see her former boss walking behind her. She didn't see anything but an empty street. "Where?"

_"Did you not notice the yellow car?" _

She looked again. For a second she thought she saw a compact car take off down the street. "That one?" she asked, pointing.

_"Oh forget it. You're too stupid to notice something so obvious."_

"Well excuse me for not being a paranoid freak." she snapped, offended.

The implants in her body jolted her. _"The only freak I see here is the one I'm currently sharing a mind with."_ the seeker retorted. _"Maybe you should try paying better attention to your surroundings instead of acting like an air head."_

She grabbed the sides of her head. "Maybe you should realize that I can't do a million things at once," she ground out.

* * *

Fowl decided to make a phonecall. He stopped at a red light and punched in a number he hadn't dailed in years. After three rings the phone was picked up.

"Hello?" a female voice asked.

"Petra?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It's me. Andrew."

"Fowl!" the woman exclaimed, her tone telling him she was not happy to hear from him. "What do you want now?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Like what you did last time?" she snapped. "I am sorry but if you're going to ask me to help you with that project again you can just call somebody else. I have no intention of being replaced again."

"No," he said. "That's not it at all. I honestly need your assistance."

"Why don't you ask that blond bimbo you hired to help you?" she retorted.

"Miss Vanderbelt is currently... absent at the moment," he replied.

"So I'm your last resort?" she sounded offended.

Fowl sighed. Maybe calling Petra Black was a bad idea after all. She had always been unstable and a little desperate. But he had no other choice. It was either her or the police and, with what he had been doing lately, getting the police involved would only complicate things. "Look I am sorry," he told her. "I should have let you know ahead of time."

"Darn right!" she snapped. "Do you know how it makes one feel to know that they have been replaced by a big assed, silicone chested, bottle blond with a fake tan?"

Fowl almost felt the need to correct Petra about Lase. While the woman was a blond, it was natural and the other parts mentioned were actually much smaller than she described them. As for her tan.. if it was fake it wasn't there anymore. "Like I said I am sorry," he repeated. "It was a mistake."

"So what do you want for me now?" she asked him, going back to the reason for his call.

"I need you to help me find something...."

* * *

Prowl watched as Slipstream flew off with the girl. He would have gone after her but he was too damaged to use his jet pack. So all he could do was focus on where she was going and hopefully he'd be able to find her later.

Just then his commlink crackled to life. "Prowl," Optimus voice said in his hearing receptor. "Prowl, come in."

Prowl put his hand to the side of his head and activated the commlink. "Prowl here," he said.

"Did you find the girl?"

"Yes," he answered, then added before Prime could comment. "But I lost her."

That wasn't what Optimus wanted to hear. "You_ lost _her?!" he exclaimed. "How did could you lose her?"

"I ran into some trouble," the cyber ninja told him. "In the shape of a Starscream clone."

"Huh? I thought they were all on Cybertron."

"Obviously we forgot to pick up Slipstream after that incident with the Omega clones," Prowl explained. "anyway I got into a little confrontation with her and she flew off with the girl."

"Oh that's just perfect! Who knows what that clone will do to her?"

"I don't know," Prowl told him, still watching her receding figure. "But I intend to prevent it from happening. Prowl out."

Prowl lowered his arm and sighed. This was just getting worse and worse. He made up his mind right there and then. For a moment he considered contacting Bumblebee or Bulkhead to come with him then changed his mind. He had to take care of this himself. With a mighty leap he landed on the roof of one the the warehouses and began to follow the seeker and her captive.

_A/N_

_Okay so I borrowed somebody else's character for the phone call. Marishal if I messed her up at all I am sorry. Other people's OCs are harder to keep in character than canon characters. _


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Slipstream touched down in a far less occupied area of the city. The location was near a construction site, and Nina could see construction equipment and tilled ground where the workers were going to put up a new building. At the moment the place was deserted because it was a Sunday.

When the fembot's feet touched the ground she opened her hand and let Nina climb off onto the sidewalk. Then the two just stared at each other for a moment unil Nina, unable to take it anymore, asked. "What did you mean by I am one of his? Who is this person?"

"Oh that," the femme said, straightening up. "You have this familiar energy signature to you," she replied, folding her arms. "Like that of my brothers or... my creator."

"Huh?" she blinked, confused. "Who was that?"

"Have you ever heard of a Decepticon named Starscream?" when the fembot said the name she seemed to be having a hard time controlling her temper. Whoever that guy was she didn't like him.

Nina shook her head. "No." she replied. "Who is he?"

"Only the most self self centered, poor excuse for a transformer I have ever met," the fembot replied, clenching her fists.

Nina sensed that this Slipstream had a very deep hatred for the being she mentioned. "What did he do to you?" she asked her.

"Nothing," Slipstream replied. "Except for creating me with the worst part of his personality."

The girl didn't comment on that because she had no idea what the femme was talking about. Instead she asked. "and what does this have to do with me?"

Slipstream met her eyes. "Plenty," she told her. "Because parts of him were used to create you."

* * *

Fowl's words seemed to surprise the woman on the other end of the phone. "You want me to _what_?" she asked.

"Help me find a very important part of my work," the Irishman answered, annoyed that he had to repeat himself. "The final product."

"_What_?!"

Petra gripped her cell phone tightly in one hand while a small, glass cylinder slipped through the fingertips of her free hand. It shattered noisily on the floor at her feet. "Find something?" she echoed. "What, am I a dog that can just come because you called and LOOK FOR SOMETHING YOU LOST?!"

"I didn't say that," the scientist responded, sensing Petra was about to go off on another of her tirades. "I never said that."

"You don't have to." She sucked in a breath through her teeth, then went on. "Oh of course… women always were like bitches to you anyway, so it's totally appropriate. It was always that way, ever since you hired me. You always said I was a dog! You told people I looked like one, and you treated me like one! ARF, ARF, ARF!"

The woman's tantrum was starting to get on his nerves. "I never said you were a dog," Fowl growled. "I only said you _looked _like a dog."

That was exactly the wrong thing to say to Petra. She let out a high-pitched shriek. "I WAS NEVER GOOD AT ANYTHING!" she exploded. "I'M NOT EVEN BEAUTIFUL! I COULD NEVER BE BEAUTIFUL!"

Then there was a terrible BONK noise as Petra slammed her phone down against the floor, then she pressed the "end call" button. She had terminated the call.

Fowl stared at his cell phone for a moment, then scowled. "That woman hung up on me!" he snarled, throwing his own phone down onto the passenger seat beside him. "I can't believe that wench actually hung up on me!"

There was a honking noise behind him. It was the only thing that suddenly alerted him to the fact that the red light had turned green. Scowling, he gripped the steeling wheel firmly and stomped on the gas peddle.

* * *

Petra lay face-down on the floor with her arms wrapped around her head. She wasn't crying; she had not actually cried at all for a very long time. She was actually breathing very hard, inhaling and exhaling like a panting bull getting ready to charge.

Finally she unfolded her arms and shoved herself upward into a sitting position, then jumped to her feet. "DAMNIT FOWL, I HATE YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, kicking over one of her small tables with her foot. It was currently covered with ceramic bowls and glass cylinders containing liquid compounds from her latest experiment. The liquids spilled and splattered all over the carpet of her living room, and the glass and ceramic cracked and shattered as they crashed into the floor.

"I HATE HIM! I'VE ALWAYS HATED HIM!" She wailed, then threw herself onto her couch. Now she allowed herself to cry, for the first time in a long time.

It was times like this when… she almost missed her brother, Prometheus Black. Almost. Because sometimes if she got too cranky, he would go out and buy her a nice hot, steaming cup of hot chocolate with little itty bitty marshmallows… just to make her calm down so she wouldn't destroy the furniture or all of the breakables around the house.

Actually, this house was her brother's house. She had begun to stay in it when her brother went to jail, and now that her brother was missing in action… she had more or less taken it over as her own. But she sure missed the hot chocolate… that was one thing her brother had been good for, at least.

She finally began to get a grip on herself. It was hard to do without the promise of hot chocolate from her brother, but she managed. She sat up straight on the couch and wiped her eyes.

Then, very slowly, an idea began to form in her mind. Fowl had contacted her, and she hated it because she hated him, and he reminded her of what a failure she'd been at everything all her life. But maybe somehow… she could use this to her advantage.

It wasn't like she was doing much else right now, except seeing how different kinds of poisons affected 6-week-old parakeets—and that wasn't really doing much, that was just a time-killing hobby. Besides, she had run out of parakeets.

"Hmmm," she mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully as the wheels began to turn inside her screwed up brain. "If nothing else… if I can get close to that bastard Fowl again, I could get a chance at that blond bimbo he hired." She cackled. Even though she hated Fowl… maybe if she could get just one chance to tell that bitch what she thought of her—or better yet, a chance to whack her over the head with a frying pan—helping Fowl might just be worth her while.

Petra giggled to herself and scrambled off the couch, stumbling onto the floor. She crawled on her hands and knees toward the area where she'd dropped her cell phone, being careful to avoid the broken glass.

She quickly dialed Fowl's phone number, a number which she'd never ever thought she would be dialing on her own again. She then grinned like a maniac as she held the phone to her ear, listening to the rings. One, two, three…

* * *

"Where is she going?" Sari asked, watching Lase Vanderbelt walked down the street in what seemed like a totally absent pace. She and Bumblebee were following the woman on a hunch.

"I don't know," Bumblebee told her. "But I am beginning to think we might have jumped to conclusions here. She doesn't seem to be doing anything strange."

"Well walking around in a silk nightgown isn't exactly what I call normal," Sari told him. "Nobody does that kind of thing."

"Well nobody else seems to be bothered by it," Bee informed her, watching a group of humans walk right past the blond woman without even batting an eyelash. "None of the people out there are even giving her a second look."

Sari had noticed that too. It was a little strange. Didn't they see her? "They probably think if they make eye contact they'll get involved in something they'd rather not be." she told him, coming to the best conclusion she could. "Did you notice all those bandages on her body?"

"Yeah," he said. Those were the very first things he'd noticed. Why did she look that way? Had she gotten in some kind of accident? "I wonder why she is like that."

"That's what I want to find out."

"By following her?"

"Hey, I never said it was a great plan," she responded, folding her arms. "But it's a start."

"Ummm Sari, aside from the way she looks and that strange behavior, what other reason is there for following her?"

She shook her head. "Something about her doesn't feel right," she replied, her blue eyes once again locking on the older woman's slim figure. "Like she's got this evil aura about her."

"Evil aura?" Bumblebee looked at her. "Sari, no offense, but you're starting to sound like Prowl. He's the one who usually senses evil auras."

"Well maybe it's rubbing off on me," she commented, shrugging.

"Just don't let the other parts of Prowl rub off on you," he replied. "Like that weird tree hugging part."

"You don't have to worry about that," she assured him. "I don't intend to hug trees any time soon. Their bark is too prickly." she saw him looking at her funny. "I'm kidding." she laughed.

* * *

Nina stared at Slipstream, not sure how to react to what the robot had told her. "What are you saying?" she demanded. "That this Starscream thing put parts of himself in my body?"

Slipstream nodded. "That's what it looks like to me," she told her. "That would explain your energy signaure is similar to his."

Nina thought that over then laughed, a loud, mocking laugh. "Yeah I was created from parts of your creator," she said, giving the fembot a look that said she thought she was crazy. "Give me a break."

Slipstream glared at her. "Hey, I am just saying what I felt." she pointed a taloned finger at the girl's face, not even bothering to hide her disgust. "It would explain the eyes and the mark on your fleshy little face." she stated. Nina absently covered the Decepticon birthmark with her left hand. "It would also explain why you are able to fire energy out of your hands."

Nina looked down at her hands. Right now they were as pale as the rest of her, the energy that woke when she was upset currently powered down. She wondered why she even had those powers to begin with but using them felt natural as well, as if they belonged to her. The very idea of these things being part of someone else bothered her yet made sense. It might explain a few things, especially if what the robot said was true. If parts of this Starscream were somehow inserted into her, it might clarify why she had that memory of dying. Though she could not see herself she'd always felt... taller in it. As if she was the same size as the robots she had run away from.

_But if all of that is true what does that make me and where did I come from?_

She did not even want to think about that. It bothered her too much. So she chose not to believe it.

"You're crazy," she stated. "Why would this Starscream want to put parts of himself into me when he could just make another clone? By the looks you're giving me you find me disgusting which most likely means he would too. I doubt he would use a part of himself to create something he considered gross."

"He could just be desperate."

"Desperate to what?" Nina questioned her. "To prove he can do it?"

Slipstream made a face. "If you only knew what his intentions were."

Nina gave her a look. "Oh, and you think you do?" she questioned.

"For your information I do," she replied, folding her arms. "But you're tiny human brain would not be able to comprehend it."

"So you're going to act all high and mighty about it and not tell me what it is." the girl made a rude noise. "Psht. Fine. Whatever. If you're going to be like that then just drop me off where you found me and I'll be on my way."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You see whether you are made from Starscream parts or not, you're disgusting and a pathetic waste of space," she raised her foot her intent clear. "Squashing you would do the world a load of good."

"No!" Nina shouted, raising her hand. Did this fembot fly away with her just to tell her some stuff then kill her? "You can't do this! You don't even know me!:"

Slipstream smirked. "And I don't intend to either."

Nina had no choice. She raised her other hand and shot a bolt of energy at the fembot. It hit her foot. She yelped in pain, grabbing the foot and dancing around on one leg. While she was distracted the girl took off. "Oh no you don't!" she shouted, glaring after her. "You're not going to get away that easily!"

Nina heard a noise behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the fembot had gone into vehicle mode. She was flying toward her, her engines screaming.

_

* * *

_

Lase halted and looked around herself, getting familiar with the area. This part of the city she had never been to before. Aside from doing some shopping and work and her apartment she never really drove through a lot of the city. This place looked like the local shopping center, stores lined up in rows on both sides of the street.

_"Why did you stop?" _Starscream's voice hissed in her ear. _"We are not even close to where that key is."_

"It's not that easy to find my way on foot," she informed him. "Plus I have no idea how to get to the tower from here. I have never even driven past it."

_"You're hopeless."_

"And you're a jerk."

His laughter vibrated in her head. _"Is that the best you could come up with, flesh bag? I've heard worse insults from drones."_

Oh brother, there he went again, putting her down even though he was relying on her. She rolled her eyes and didn't give him a comeback. It wasn't worth it. She just continued to walk down the sidewalk, though she began to notice some people giving her sideways glances. _It must be how I look, _she thought to herself. _I never had the time to get dressed and now I'm stuck walking around barefoot in my slip. _she sighed. _I wonder if my apartment is still mine? I haven't been there in two months and I bet I'm behind on my rent and other bills._

_"Aw what's wrong now? Your vanity making you self conscious?"_

"No," she muttered. "I just don't like being stared at."

_"I'm sorry to hear that," _he said, though by his tone she could tell he wasn't. _"Want me to cover you with a blanket? Oh wait I can't! I'm dead!"_

She ignored his taunting. She paused at the end of the block and looked around. When she looked northward she thought she caught a faint outline of the Sumdac Systems tower. "Ah hah! I have found you!"

_"So you're useful after all."_

Lase ignored him and headed toward the tall building in the distance. _Once I get there and find this key maybe then I'll have my body to myself again. _the implants in her body began to throb. _Maybe these unwanted additions to my body will go away too._

* * *

"Why did you hang up on me?" Fowl demanded when he picked up the phone and the caller identified themselves. "What is your problem? If you didn't want to help you should have just said no." he waved his hand around until he realized he was swerving then grabbed the steering wheel again. "You see, this is why I fired you! I don't like playing your little games!"

"Oh but I do want to help!" Petra responded, sounding like a little kid in a candy store. "That's why I'm calling you back!"

Well this was unexpected. "You do?" he asked, his voice betraying his surprise.

"Oh, yes!" she replied, sounding more than a little eager."Just tell me what to do and where to go."

Fowl was suspicious. Why had Petra Black suddenly changed her mind? "Why do you suddenly want to help me?" he demanded. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing!" her voice changed to a whine. She sounded upset that he would even entertain such thoughts. "I just needed to think about it for a moment. So I gave it some thought and realized helping you was a good idea. But if you don't want me to help."

"Oh, I do," he said, quickly.

"Good." she was thrilled. As if the whole thing was her idea and he was going along with it. "What do you want me to do then?"

"I'll tell you in person," he said, turning onto main street. "Do you still live in the same apartment?"

"Of course I do," she replied. "Why would I move? I have a great view of the lake from here."

"Okay," Fowl said. "If you're there stay, okay. I'll be right over."

"Oh, before you come over can you do me a favor?" she asked.

"What?"

"Can you make a stop at the coffee shop and get me a nice hot, steaming cup of hot chocolate with little itty bitty marshmallows?"

Professor Fowl sighed and rolled his eyes. Another one of Petra's weird obsessions. "Okay, fine," he said.

* * *

_This is it for me! I am such an idiot. Not only do I have those Autobot freaks after me but this clone wants to kill me too. _Nina was beginning to feel like the whole world was out to get her for some reason. Scientists, robots, seekers. What next? The moon? _Knowing my luck the moon will turn into one of those freaks and eat me along with the entire planet. _

And it most likely would too, just to give whatever higher power was out there a good laugh.

_Yeah, Primus, go right ahead. Laugh it up. _ the thought startled her. _Primus? Whose Primus? _

The pavement in front of her suddenly blew up, cutting off her thoughts about planet eating moons and supreme beings named Primus. She stopped and put up her arms to protect her face. Behind her, she heard that crazy fembot cackling. "You won't get away from me that easily, flesh bag!"

Nina looked over her shoulder at the oncoming plane. It was coming right at her like it wanted to fly into her and kill her that way. _No! Not this time, you won't! One death that might or might not be mine is enough!_

Nina turned around and faced the jet head on. If she was going to die she was going to take somebody with her. Opening her hands she raised them and fired bolts of red energy at her. Slipstream swerved sideways to avoid being hit. Then fired at Nina again. She dived to the ground to avoid being hit.

Just as she did so a large, black figure seemed to come out of nowhere and slam into Slipstream. The fembot screamed in surprise and anger and crashed to the pavement.

The figure then landed on the ground in front of Nina. He looked down at her. She stared at him with wide red eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Nina stared at her savior in shock, her mouth hanging wide open. It was that gold and black robot that had chased her before. He had saved her? Why? Did he want to kill her himself?

"Stsy away from me!" she shouted, backing away. "Just stay back, you freak!"

The robot looked sad. Maybe he wasn't expecting her to act like that after just saving her life but she didn't care. She hadn't asked for his help or wanted it. "I'm not going to hurt you," he told her, stepping toward her. "I would never harm a human."

She kept on backing away. "Just," she stammered. "Just leave me alone."

"But-" the rest of his words were cut off when a bolt of energy hit him in the back, knocking him over. He grunted and fell over. Slipstream stood behind him with her arm raised, the cannon attached smoking.

"Never turn your back to a seeker," she said. She lowered her arm and started walking forward, her red optics locked on Nina. "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted? Oh yes." she raised her arm and fired again.

The girl dived out of the way, the shots barely missing her tiny frame.

_A/N_

_Yeah my ideas for this are kind of low right now. I do intent to finish it but I might need some help with it. Meh. Petra Black belongs to Tehmarishal. I'm just borrowing her with her permission. _


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Professor Fowl pulled his car in front of Petra Black's apartment and turned off the engine. He opened the door and climbed out, turning around to reach inside and take out two large cups of hot chocolate with itty bitty marshmallows. He then turned back to the building and, after kicking the door shut, headed up the front walk. he was actually dreading this meeting. Miss Black always had this ability to make him uncomfortable but he didn't have much of a choice and he knew it. She was the only scientist, or the closest thing to it, he knew that would actually be willing to help. Even if she had her own agenda.

_I just hope I can explain my problem without any interruptions. _

Once he climbed up the porch steps and approached the front door, he realized he had a problem. He had a cup in each hand, so he was unable to knock. Thankfully though there was a doorbell, and he was able to free an index finger in order to press it. It had an odd tone, but it suited Petra perfectly. She defined the word "odd".

At first there was no answer. He shifted his feet impatiently and was about to press the doorbell again when he heard what sounded like someone shuffling around on the other side of the door.

"Petra?" he called out.

"WHAT'S THE PASSWORD?" came the reply from the eccentric woman.

The Irishman wasn't about to play this game. "Open the door, this instant, Petra Black!"

"OH!" At that very instant, the door was flung open. Thankfully it was a door that opened inwardly. If it had swung outward at that speed, it probably would have hit him and caused him to spill hot chocolate all over his clothes. "Come in!" Petra exclaimed, her ugly features lit up with a delighted smile. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else."

Fowl entered the apartment and Petra closed the door behind his back. "Oh look, you got hot chocolate!" she gushed, intertwining her fingers together. She looked like a little kid who'd just been brought the world's largest container of ice cream.

Before he could say anything or even react, she snatched both of the cups out of his hands. She seemed to suck one down in two gulps, then started on the other one.

"Hey one of those was mine!" Fowl exclaimed in annoyance.

"Oh," she said, eying the second cup in her hand. It was now only half full. "Okay. You can have it back."

"Ugh, no thanks." He pushed the offered cup away in disgust.

Petra seemed happy enough to be able to keep the hot chocolate for herself. She tipped her head back and poured it into her mouth, and ended up spilling most of it down her chin, onto the front of her shirt.

"DAMN!" she cursed, throwing the cup down on the floor and stomping on it as if this was all its fault. "Now I need to take a quick shower!" She then grinned at Fowl. "Don't worry, I can take fast showers! Stay right here, and I'll be right back!"

As Petra dashed from the room, Fowl let out a huge sigh of exasperation and flopped down onto her couch. _At least she didn't ask me to join her. _she'd done that once when they were working together. He'd given her an earful about boundaries afterward.

Five minutes went by before she finally emerged from the bathroom. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel, and she wore a towel that barely concealed her frame. Fowl grimaced at the sight of her. She was bull-legged and her face looked more hideous than ever. He'd never realized that she even wore make-up under normal circumstances, and this was the first time he'd ever seen her without make-up on.

If it weren't for the large eyes in her face and her little crooked nose, he would have thought she was a walking corpse. Or perhaps a manikin.

For a moment he simply stared at her in shock. Did this woman have no dignity whatsoever? He then found himself falling off the couch with a soft thud. Thankfully the carpet of her apartment was soft.

Petra frowned at him for a moment, then glanced down at herself. "OH!" she exclaimed. "I've forgotten to get dressed and to put on my face!" With that she turned and dashed out of the living room, headed toward her bedroom to put on some clothes.

"You say you'll put in your face but it doesn't ever look any different," he grumbled climbing back onto the sofa. "So what's the point?"

"You're just jealous because you can't put on makeup to make yourself look good!" Petra retorted as she vanished into her bedroom. She always used her own weird logic to make herself feel better. At least, she did that sometimes. She slammed the door shut and began making a lot of noise as she went through her closet's contents.

Fowl shook his head and sighed. "I look good already," he muttered.

The rummaging and shuffling noises intensified. It almost sounded as though she was tearing her entire bedroom apart in order to find something to wear.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence that followed the racket, the door opened and she stepped out. She was wearing a pair of high-heels, a knee-length skirt and a full-length tank-top. Her short black hair—hadn't it been red, or blond before? Fowl couldn't even remember—was brushed out and it hung down loosely around her scalp. She had on makeup, and perhaps it did improve her features a little… although Fowl didn't think green lipstick did much for anyone's features.

"Okay," she muttered, grabbing her purse from a nearby table and rummaging around inside it. "What do you want me to do?" She scowled, apparently not finding whatever it was she was looking for.

* * *

"It looks like she's heading toward your home," Bumblebee commented.

"Yeah," Sari agreed, frowning. This fact bothered her though she didn't know why. It wasn't all that strange for random people to stop by her father's workplace, plenty of weirdos came by, but the fact that the blond lady was just didn't feel right. Why would she be heading there anyway? Was she planning something?

_Stop it, Sari! _she scolded herself. _There are plenty of other places in that direction besides your house. For all you know she could be heading to any of those. _

But she knew better. "I wonder why she would want to," Sari said out loud, folding her arms.

"Maybe she's going to try to get a job?"

"Dressed like that?" she pointed at the woman's clothing.

Bee shrugged. "Well you never know," he said, making a helpless gesture. "I've seen people dressed stranger trying to get a job at the local coffee shop. The one guy had all these pictures on his arms. Why in the world would anybody want to draw on themselves?"

"Tattoo," Sari said.

"Tattoos?"

"That's what they're called."

"Oh."

Sari looked back at him. "I really don't think that lady is going to my home to apply for a job," she stated.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well aside from how she's dressed there's just something about her that says that's not her purpose."

He made a face. "What? That aura thing?"

"I guess you could say that," she stated, though saying it out loud made it seem silly. "Everything is telling me she's bad news."

"But what can that lady do?" Bumblebee wanted to know. "With the way she's dressed and looks I don't think she's going to pull a gun out on anybody or anything like that. She doesn't have any place to hide it."

"How should I know? I'm not in her head!" she looked back at the woman. "It's just the way I feel. I can't help it." she continued down the sidewalk. "Come on, I don't want to lose her."

* * *

Prowl heard the sound of firepower and screaming. Something bad was happening to that girl and he couldn't even protect her, though she didn't want to be protected to begin with. She hated him and he knew that but he couldn't let Slipstream kill her even if she didn't like him or the others. She was a living being and wasn't a Decepticon. he had to protect her, even if she didn't really deserve it.

_If I don't Slipstream will kill her. _

With this thought in mind, he acted. Putting his hands on the ground he pushed against it, forcing himself to stand though his body protested. It hurt so much from the blows he'd sustained. He got to his feet, stumbling forward until he regained his balance. He raised his head and saw Nina was lying on the ground, staring up in wide eyed fear at the fembot seeker who had her arm cannon aimed at the girl and a wicked smile on her face. She was going to kill her.

_No!_

"You got any final words?" Slipstream asked, grinning down at the girl. "How about you beg for your life? I'll enjoy denying such a foolish request."

Nina glared up at her from her spot on the ground. "I wouldn't beg for anything from you, freak!" she shouted defiantly.

The fembot seeker cocked her head. "_I'm _a freak? Speak for yourself!" she lowered her arm to get better aim then fired.

Nina flinched and closed her eyes, putting up her arm as if that would protect her. A few seconds passed but she never felt the pain from being hit by a plasma shot course through her body. In fact she felt nothing. Had she died? _Huh?_

She opened her eyes to find a big black and gold figure standing in front of her protectively. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Prowl said.

"You again!" Slipstream exclaimed, taking a step back, her optics flaring with anger. "Won't you just take a hint and stay down?"

Prowl didn't respond. Instead he came at her, pulling two shurikans out of nowhere and throwing them at her. The fembot clone had to dodge to avoid being hit by the flying projectiles. She fired at him but missed her target every time. He seemed to be moving faster than the eye could see. Every time she did manage to hit him he seemed to vanish as if he hadn't been there at all. _A hologram! _she realized.

But if that Prowl was fake, where did the real one go? Behind her! She spun around and got a face full of fist. Grunting she stepped back, her entire face flaring with pain. Prowl kicked at her before she could recover, getting her in the stomach plating. She fell back, landing on the ground on her rear. She glared at him, wiping some mech fluid from her mouth then getting back to her feet. She ran at him, intent on ripping out his spark with her bear hands.

Something hot and charged hit her in the back. She screamed in pain and looked over her shoulder. Nina had gotten to her feet and was holding a red energy orb in her hands, her glowing red eyes locked on the fembot. "I'm your target, not him!" she shouted.

"You disgusting-" the femme started to say but was cut off when Prowl kicked her over. "Ugh, no fair! Two against one!"

"Life isn't fair," Prowl said, standing over her. "A Decepticon like yourself should know that."

"You're going to regret that, ninja!" she tried to lunge at him but was once again hit by the girl's energy blasts. She turned to her and fired one of her cannons.

Nina moved clumsily out of the way, nearly falling over but catching herself on time. Prowl moved to help her, rushing past the fembot clone and once again putting himself between the girl and the Decepticon. The blasts hit him in the side but he ignored the pain. He would worry about the damage later. Nina was first priority. If he didn't protect her she'd be killed and he couldn't let that happen.

_Even if she does think I murdered her. _

* * *

"I need you to help me find something very important," Fowl replied, leaning back against the sofa cusions..

"And what would that be?" Petra asked with a slight tip of her head.

"The final product."

"Hmmm," Petra murmured, then shifted her position slightly. She seemed to be trying to discreetly scratch an itch somewhere in the region of her backside. "Ugh, why did I have to put on wool underwear?!" she exclaimed. "I'm allergic!"

"Then why do you wear it?" Fowl asked, with a very disgusted look on his face.

"It's the only underwear I have," Petra shrugged. "I lost all of my good underwear the last time I went to the Laundromat." She looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin, as though trying to remember something. Then she beamed and said, "Yeah, it was last week."

"Then why didn't you go buy some new underwear?" he demanded. "And quit scratching! It'll only make it worse!"

Petra frowned. "There are other things that take priority!" she exclaimed, as if it were obvious. Then she rummaged around inside her purse some more, until she finally found what she'd been looking for. She then yanked out a pack of un-opened cigarettes. "Like these!" she grinned, as if proud of herself for having them.

Fowl made a face. "I'm sure you remember our little discussion about those things," he said. 'They'll give you lung cancer. Yet another reason why I fired you. Cigarette smoke contaminated the specimens."

"Oh that's just a stupid fib," Petra shrugged dismissively. "Besides, it wasn't smoke from these babies that contaminated that experiment. It was just your carelessness!" She ripped the package open, took out one of the white sticks, then thrust the rest of the package back into her purse. Then, placing the end of the cigarette between her lips, she held out a hand toward Fowl. "Got a light I can borrow?" she asked.

"No."

Petra frowned again, causing the white stick to point downward toward the floor. "You're no help," she grumbled. She then sighed and put the cigarette in a pocket on the side of her skirt. "Okay," she muttered, putting the strap of her purse over her shoulder, "now… um, what was this about a final product?"

Fowl slapped his hand against his forehead. "Didn't you hear a word I said?" he asked. "I said I need your help to find the Final Product of my research."

"Oh!" Petra exclaimed, now grinning. "Okay then. Tell me more about it so I can try to find it."

"I'm beginning to regret coming over." Fowl stood. "Maybe we should just forget about it."

"No, no, no, no!" Petra interjected, shaking her head furiously. "You must stay! I said I would help and I would!" She then placed her hands on his chest and shoved, attempting to make him sit back down.

"Don't touch me!"

Thankfully, Petra withdrew her hands and simply folded her arms across her chest. "Tell me what the thing looks like," she growled, almost as if she were the boss here, and as if this entire thing had been her idea. "Is it alive? Or dead? Or just an object? Though knowing you it is probably alive, or at least was, or maybe you took something dead and put things into it… or maybe you somehow brought an inanimate object to life…" She continued to ramble on.

"Will you shut up long enough for me to describe it?!"

"Okay fine." Petra then glanced away from him, then moved to hunt up a box of matches. Once she found them, she took out her cigarette once again, lit it, and stuck it into her mouth. "Go ahead," she murmured, then seemed to focus on the white stick in her mouth.

"Fine." Fowl walked over to her and took the cigarette out of her mouth. "It has long black hair and pale skin. As for the body it would look like a teenage girl abut 16." he crushed the cigarette in the ashtray. "It would almost have a unique birthmark."

"Hmm," Petra murmured, scowling at the ashtray. Obviously she didn't like having her cigarette taken away from her. She then reached into her purse, perhaps with the intent of pulling out another one. "So… what is it, exactly? A clone? An android?"

"A techno organic."

"Oh, half flesh and half machine, right?" She then pulled two cigarettes out of her purse.

"Yes." He saw what she was doing. "Put those away, this instant!"

She narrowed her eyes, then wrapped her fingers around them protectively. "Guess you don't want one, then," she pouted slightly. "Okay then… any idea where it might be?"

"I have no clue." the scientist sighed. "That's why I need help looking for it."

"Okay then!" Petra said ecstatically. "Shall we get started?" She proceeded to light one of the cigarettes, having snatched the matches from the nearby table. "I can begin shortly. I'll take a car and see what I can find." She stuck the freshly lit stick into her mouth.

"Good." he made a face when she blew smoke in his direction. "Just don't forget what it looks like."

"Right. It looks like a sixty-one-year-old man, with blond hair. And he's quite obese." She then saw a look of pure frustration—possibly even borderline rage?—crossing Fowl's face. "I'm kidding!" she exclaimed quickly. "I'm just kidding! I know. It looks like a teenage girl with black hair." She grinned, running her fingers through her own hair. "I would never forget the description of someone who looks something like me!"

"She looks nothing like you," he muttered under his breath. He turned toward the door. "Let's get moving. The sooner we find it the better."

"Okie-dokie," she said, and began to walk toward the door herself. She nearly stumbled on her high heels as they caught on the rug in front of the door, but she quickly caught herself.

Fowl sighed and rolled his eyes.

000000

_"Can't you move any faster?" _

Lase stopped in her tracks. She was getting sick of Starscream constantly whining about something. No wonder Megatron killed him. He was the most obnoxious being she'd ever socialized with. "I'm going as fast as I can."

_"No, you're not, you could run."_

"If I ran I'd get out of breath." she folded her arms and looked up at the tower. It was closer now, she only had a few more blocks to go. "Even if I found this object you wanted how can you be sure it will work?"

_"I just do," _was his response. _"and if it doesn't I'll find a way to make it work. You shouldn't be so hesitant about finding it. I'd think you would be happy. Once I use that key to bring myself back to life you'll have your dear little body to yourself again."_

"Bring you back to life! So that's what you wanted the key for!"

_"Why else would I want it? To open a door with? It's not really thar hard to figure out what my reason is."_

"You're right," she agreed, even though she could not comprehend how a little key would be able to bring him back. "My mistake." she got moving again. "We should be there soon. I'm going to need your help getting in because I don't think they'll allow somebody dressed the way I am to enter the building."

She could hear him laughing and it wasn't a good hearted laugh. he was making fun of her again. _"Then maybe you should cover yourself."_

_A/_

_Now we're getting somewhere. _


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

_Why is he helping me? _Nina wondered as she watched Prowl fight Slipstream. _Why would he help me after all I did? Surely he's not __**that **__desperate to kill me. _She was beginning to think that maybe that wasn't the case at all. Maybe he really didn't want to kill her after all.

_What are you doing standing around? _a voice in her head demanded. _Get out of here before you get hurt!_

She needed no second bidding. Even if this Autobot wasn't going to kill her she didn't plan on staying around to see the outcome. Without a moment's hesitation, she turned and took off down the street, not looking back.

When Prowl rushed at her as Slipstream fired in her direction she wasn't sure whether she should run from him or find out why he as doing it. It didn't matter anyway.

The cyber ninja took a few blows to the back then threw one of his weapons at the femme seeker. She screamed in pain when it lodged into her hand and while she tried to pry it out he came at her again and kicked her hard in the face.

The force of the blow knocked her onto her back. As she tried to get up a heavily damaged Prowl loomed over her dangerously. "Just move," he told her. "The girl isn't worth it."

She shot him a mocking look as she got to her feet. "You're right for once, Autobot," she said turning away and transforming into vehicle mode. "She _isn't! _You can have her!_"_

Then she was gone, becoming nothing more than a black dot in the sky. Prowl sighed in relief and turned to face Nina.

She was gone.

"Nina?" he looked around but the girl was gone. "No.. she can't have." He had to find her. He couldn't let her get away again.

But when he took a step he lost his footing and fell to the ground. When he tried to get up his body punished him for it. He was just too damaged to move. He raised his head and looked around but still saw nothing and could not pick up anything either. His vision was starting to darken as his body forced him to recharge.

_No! You can't pass out now! _

Too late for that. He couldn't prevent it. The damage was starting to take its tole on his body while his systems were forcing him into stasis lock. .

"Nina?"

He fainted.

* * *

Nina put as much distance between herself and the fighting robots as she could. She was determined to get away from them before either realized that she was gone. Hopefully they'd be too preoccupied fighting each other that they wouldn't notice until she was halfway across town. The girl glanced over her shoulder. The robots seemed to still be in the middle of a battle. _Good, _she thought, looking ahead. _Now if only they'd stay that way a little longer._

She reached the end of the block and crossed the street without looking. She was halfway across when she heard the screech of breaks and the blaring of a horn. The girl turned her head just in time to see a car barreling toward her.

* * *

Petra Black screamed and grabbed the steering wheel more tightly in an iron grip. Her knuckles cracked as she swerved off to the side, barely missing this person who'd appeared right in front of her. Her foot smashed against the brakes, causing the tires to squeal shrilly as the car practically bounced to a halt, its front wheels ending up on the sidewalk.

Once the car had stopped, Petra looked around. She saw what looked like a teenage girl staring at her with widened eyes. Petra returned the stare for a moment, trying to get her bearings. Then something clicked in her brain, and she grabbed the door handle to swing the car door open.

Upon stepping out, she took a couple of steps toward the girl and then stopped, placing her hands on her hips. "Well now, what have we here?" she murmured thoughtfully, scrutinizing the girl from head to foot.

Nina backed away slightly, her face reflecting the distrust she felt. "Stay away from me," she ordered, putting up her right hand. It grew hot but didn't light up, not yet.

Petra didn't come any closer, but she didn't move away either. "Hmm," she purred as she continued to study the girl. It certainly looked like this person could fit the description that Fowl had given her. She had long dark hair, she looked like a teenager, and she had an odd mark on her face.

"You know, sweetie," she said, folding her arms across her chest, "I don't blame you for being cautious. There's always things happening out here. And there's always someone after you." She laughed. "I've had people coming after me, too. I've been arrested at least twice, and one time they tied me up in a white coat and locked me in a room. Does that sound fair to you?" Petra frowned, tilting her head to one side.

"No," the girl said, reluctantly. What was the point this woman was trying to make? "But what does that have to do with _me_?"

Petra shrugged. "Maybe I can help you out. I can get you away from here, somewhere safe. Or maybe I can just take you somewhere you want to go." She turned away, reaching into the car and grabbing her purse. "I mean, it takes a while to go anywhere on foot. It's much faster to go somewhere in a car!" She patted the vehicle's hood, almost affectionately, then began to rummage around inside her purse.

Nina looked at the car without commenting. She seemed to be thinking it over. She glanced back the way she came, her expression troubled. How long would it be before Prowl or the Starscream clone figured out she was gone? She couldn't be there when it happened. They both wanted to kill her after all.... or at least the female clone did. She wasn't sure what the Autobot's intention was anymore.

"Ah-ha!" Petra exclaimed suddenly, taking the pack of cigarettes from her purse. She then stuck one of them into her mouth, and offered one out to Nina. "Want a smoke?" she asked.

The girl made a face. "Why would I want to smoke?" she asked. "Do I look like a chimney?"

Petra shrugged. "Your loss." She put away the extra cigarette and hauled a long-lost lighter out of her purse. She flicked it to life, lit the end of the white stick, then inhaled deeply and contentedly. "So," she said after a moment, "want a ride, or not? It's up to you, kid."

Nina looked back the way she came once more then sighed, her shoulders slumping. Well it was better than walking. "Okay, fine," she said, walking toward the car. "But if you try anything funny you're going to regret it."

"No worries, sweetheart," Petra uttered, her voice sounded slightly muffled by the presence of a cigarette in her mouth. She climbed into the driver's side of the car and slammed the door shut. She then started the engine and waited for Nina to get in on the passenger side.

The girl opened the door and cautiously climbed in, half expecting something bad to happen.

Petra seemed almost completely preoccupied with her cigarette for a moment, puffing in a few deep breaths of the noxious smoke. Finally she rolled down the window and threw the white, half-burned stick out. "Okie-dokie," she said, starting up the engine. "Now, where do you want to go?" Her voice had taken on a higher, almost patronizing pitch, as if she were speaking to a kitten.

Nina said nothing. She honestly didn't know where she wanted to go. All she knew was that she had to get away. "I don't care."

* * *

_"By the way, flesh bag, we're being followed."_

Lase stopped in her tracks. "What?" he'd said the words so casually it was obvious he was getting a thrill out of making her look stupid.

_"You heard me, meat bag," _Starscream said. _"We're being followed."_

She looked around herself, confused. "By who?"

_"I guess what they say about blonds being dumb is true." _he stated, sighing in disgust._ "The techno organic freak and the annoying little yellow Autobot have been tailing us for the past hour and doing a horrible job at it." _she could almost hear him sniff in contempt at her airheadedness. _"I am surprised you did not notice this."_

"Shut up," she growled. "I didn't notice because you wanted me to get to the tower and find this key and I could only focus on one thing at once since you're taking up half my brain.." she looked over her shoulder. Further down the street she spotted Sari and Bumblebee. They were in the middle of a conversation and acting as if they weren't watching her though their random sideways glances tipped her off just fine.

"So what do you want me to do?" she asked, folding her arms. "Tell them to go away?"

_"No, I got a better idea."_

"And that would be....?"

In her mind's eye she saw him grinning maliciously. Suddenly her hands were moving by themselves. They started to glow. "No!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening. "You're not-"

Too late. Blood red energy shot out of her hands and right into Bumblebee, knocking him to the pavement.

* * *

Neither Sari or her best friend were expecting Lase to notice them or react if she did. At least not in the way it happened. When she raised her hands and shot plasma energy at them, both were taken totally by surprise.

"Bumblebee!" the girl exclaimed, rushing over to her friend after he hit the concrete, cracking it on impact. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he said. "I think so." he groaned as he sat up, his hand on his head. "I didn't know she could to _that_."

"I didn't either." Sari looked back at the blond woman. She was watching them, her one good eye glowing strangely. The expression on her face looked strangely.. familiar.

As Bumblebee got to his feet the woman fired at them again. "Look out!" he shouted, grabbing up Sari and diving behind a building for cover. By then other people had noticed and were running for cover, terrified because they had no idea what was going on.

"So much for harmless," Bee commented.

"So much for _human_," Sari stated, peeking out of their hiding place to watch the woman walking toward them with purposeful steps. "No normal person can shoot energy out of their hands."

"So what are we going to do about it?" he wanted to know, joining her. "Do you want me to shoot her?"

Lase fired again. The two ducked for cover. "I don't think we have much choice," she said before both of them ducked out of sight when she fired upon them once more.

* * *

"Stop it, Starscream!" Lase shouted, trying to break him control on her body. "Why are you trying to kill everyone?"

_"Revenge my dear, flesh bag," _he replied, a wicked smile in his voice. "_They're the reason I am stuck using you as a body and I want them to pay."  
_"By forcing me to kill them?"

He spoke in a careless voice. _"What works works."_

"Not with me!" she wrestled to regain control of her body. Starscream was having so much fun with it that he was unwilling to hand it back over to her. There seemed to be no way she could get it back, his hold was stronger than hers, except one. "I thought you wanted to get that key?"

That seemed to get his attention. _"That is right," _he agreed allowing her hands to power down. _"I'll punish them after I get my old body back."_ she felt him grinning. "_Then they'll wish I had__** stayed **__dead." _he forced her body to turn around and dash down the street. _"Come along, flesh bag. We have things to do. No time for procrastination."_

_Me? You're the one who decided he wanted to blow up some freaky techno organic girl and her yellow robot friend._

* * *

When the firing stopped Bumblebee and Sari looked at each other. "Huh?"

As one the friends peeked out of there hiding place. The woman was gone. "Hey, where'd she go?" Bumblebee asked, looking around.

"I don't know," Sari said, stepping back onto the sidewalk. "But we'd better find her. If she is heading to my home I don't think it's because she wants to take the grand tour."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Nina asked, looking out the car window as Petra drove the car through the city at not to legal speeds.

Petra pressed her foot against the accelerator and gripping the steering wheel with even more force. She then took her eyes off the road just long enough to flash a grin at her passenger. "Oh, I would like to get some lunch!" she said, then turned her eyes back on the road—just in time to swerve in order to prevent slamming into someone coming out of their driveway.

Once she had safely maneuvered the car around the person, she leaned out the window just long enough to yell, "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU JERK!" Then when she looked at the road again… she realized the car had gone onto the sidewalk while she wasn't looking at the road. Grumbling, she gripped the steering wheel and got the car back on the road. Then she picked up speed.

Nina looked over at the woman with wide, panic stricken eyes. "Slow down!" she yelled, grabbing the dashboard with white knuckled hands. "Are you trying to kill us?!"

Petra grinned, but then the grin suddenly faded. "Hmm." She suddenly looked thoughtful, almost as if new inspiration had come into her. She then slowed down a little, but not much. "My neighbor wouldn't be happy if I wrecked his car… again," she muttered. Then she laughed. "I've borrowed from him many times. And I've already crashed two of his previous cars."

"You crashed two of his cars?!" Nina looked at the door, tempted to bail. She was beginning to regret ever taking up the woman's offer. She was a maniac!

"Oh don't worry, sweetheart. That was about a year ago. I haven't crashed any cars I've driven for months!"

That didn't do anything to calm the girl's nerves. Her hands started glowing red and she raised one of them to the woman's eyes. "Slow down or I'll blow your head off," she growled, threateningly.

Petra did slow the car down, to just above the suggested speed limit of the area. But then she smiled and spared a hand long enough to pat Nina's arm, as if she were completely harmless. "Everything's under control. Want something to eat? I'm gonna take us to my boyfriend's house, just long enough to get something."

"Boyfriend?' it was hard to believe anyone would want to date this lunatic, unless her boyfriend was as fruity as she was.

"Yep!" Petra giggled. "And he's SO sexy with those pink glasses of his."

"Pink sunglasses?" well that explained everything. Any guy who wore pink shades couldn't be right in the head either.

Petra made no response. She simply turned on the radio and then began to sing to herself for a little while. Most of the time she was actually kind of quiet, so it was easy to ignore. But then she would get vocal during the chorus, and that's when her terrible singing would really grate on the nerves.

Nina put her fingers in her ears and tried to ignore the singing, but, since she'd never heard music before. The song and Petra's singing wound up getting stuck in her head. _Argh! No! Go away! Go away!_

Finally they came up to a place that looked like a large office building. Petra turned off the radio, thankfully, and pulled up into the parking lot. Then, shutting off the engine, she muttered something about how annoying it was to have to keep hot wiring cars when she "borrowed" them, and then she opened the door to step out.

Nina practically tore the door off its hinges as she climbed out, desperate to be on stable ground again. She hoped to never have to ride in another vehicle with such a lunatic again. She hit the pavement on her hands and knees and was tempted to kiss it but resisted. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself then stood. Her legs wobbled a little and she had too grab the door handle to steady herself.

"Come on," Petra grinned, as if they were simply taking a nice quiet stroll through the park. "I'm sure my boyfriend will have good food to give us. He always has good food!" With that, she began to head toward the front entrance of the building.

Nina reluctantly followed, her hands, which were in the pockets of her long trench coat, glowing slightly just in case this was a trap.

Petra seemed completely as ease as she walked through the door, with the teenager following warily behind her. Petra even whistled quietly to herself as she walked toward the receptionist's desk. "Hey you, lady chewing the gum, is Powell is in his office?"

The blond-haired receptionist glanced up from her desk. She stared at Petra for a moment, then released a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes. "Not you again," she muttered. "Yes, fine, Powell is up in his office." The blond woman then turned her attention completely back to her work, as if trying to dismiss Petra's presence from the face of the planet.

"Wonderful!" Petra clapped like a giddy child. "Let's go, kid."

In spite of herself, the receptionist glanced up momentarily, eying the teenager warily. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of Nina. The teen wasn't exactly dressed decently, but then again a lot of kids tended to dress in weird ways these days. And if that kid was hanging around Petra… well, enough said. The receptionist shrugged, shook her head, and focused her attention back on her work.

Nina, seeing the look on the woman's face, self consciously wrapped her coat tightly around her slender body. _Maybe I should have taken the entire outfit when I broke out of the lab,_ she thought to herself.

"LET'S GO, HONEY!" Petra's voice boomed, causing people in the hallway to jump and stare at her, and it caused the receptionist to flinch and scowl at her back. Petra was now practically running toward the nearest elevator.

"I'm coming!" she shouted, rushing to catch up to the woman. "Sheesh, what's the rush?"

Petra quickly entered the elevator and, once Nina was inside, she quickly pressed the button to take them to the top floor. Then, panting a little, Petra turned to Nina. "It's been almost a whole week since I've seen my wonderful chubby-cheeks!" Obviously, that was apparently some sort of pet name she'd given her, ah, boyfriend. "I wanna see him, and I'm sure he's just as anxious to see me!"

"I'm sure he is," the girl replied, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Petra asked, cocking her head to one side.

"How could I have a boyfriend?" the girl asked her. "I haven't even existed for very long." she paused and thought for a moment. She wasn't really sure how long she'd really existed, honestly but it couldn't have been for very long. Slipstream's words kept on echoing in her mind. "_You're one of __**those**_." the fembots words repeated themselves over and over.

It was obvious "one of those" meant she wasn't a real person. Not that anyone had to tell her that since it was obvious. Normal people didn't have glowing hands.... nor did they overload when they used too much power.

Now Petra looked at her with a piercing, scrutinizing gaze. "How long have you been alive?" she asked.

Nina shrugged. "Do you really think your boyfriend will be willing to help?" she asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to discuss her origins, not with this fruit loop. "Does he even know we're here? Did you call him?"

Once again, Petra laughed that annoying laugh of hers. "Oh I just drop in on him at random times. Sure, he acts annoyed, but I just know he secretly loves it! And if nothing else, he will definitely give us food." She beamed. "He always gives me something when I stop by."

"Right..."

Just then the elevator door opened, and Petra practically ran out—only to end up stumbling over her high heels. She barely caught herself on the nearby wall to keep from falling flat on her face. "Come on!" she exclaimed, and then shoved away from the wall and began to march off down the hall.

Nina followed at a more conservative pace, once again asking herself why she'd even gotten into the car with this woman. _Maybe it would have been better taking my chances with the Autobot,_ she thought. _At least __**he **__wasn't unpredictable._

When reaching the correct door, Petra released a shrill squeal of delight and practically threw the door open. Inside, a fairly plump man with black, graying hair sat behind a desk. He wore pink glasses and had a large tray in front of him that contained a variety of foods, including about three sandwiches, a salad and some pieces of fruit. And at the sound of the door opening, along with the loud squeal, he looked up—and practically screamed.

Petra ran inside and went around to his side of the desk, knocking over a tower of papers in the process. Then she threw her arms around him and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek. "I've missed you so much, chubby-cheeks!" she shrieked in delight.

* * *

"Prowl? Prowl!" the sound of somebody calling his name slowly brought the cyber ninja back to consciousness. With consciousness came pain, lost of pain.. and a feeling of failure.

Prowl moaned and reactivated his optics. He stared up at two faces, one belonging to Optimus and the other belonging to Ratchet. They were both leaning over him, their expressions worried. "Op-" he began before a coughing fit cut him off. He lay there for a moment, his frame shaking with each convulsion, before recovering enough to say. "I am sorry. I failed."

"What happened?" Optimus asked, kneeling down and helping the other robot to his feet.

"I tried to protect her from Slipstream," the cyber ninja replied.

This surprised the Prime. "Slipstream? Wat did she want with the girl?"

"She wanted to kill her," the cyber ninja explained. "I tried to help her but.. but.."

"But what?"

"She ran away and I don't have any idea where she went." he shook his head. "I am sorry."

"We'll worry about that later," Optimus said, looking his friend over, accessing the damage. "Right now I'm more worried about you." he looked over at Ratchet. "Mind taking him back to the plant for repairs?"

Prowl didn't want to go. "But I have to find the girl!" he protested.

"You're in no shape to find anyone," Optimus said. "You just go back and get repaired. I'll look for the girl. That's an order." he added before Prowl could protest.

The cyber ninja reluctantly complied.

"Let's go," Ratchet said, taking his arm.

* * *

Lase stood in the parking lot ,looking up at the spiraling sky scraper. Sumdac Systems. Home of Professor Isaac Sumdac, Andrew Fowl's rival. _I'm here, _she thought, not taking her eyes off of it. _After so long I am finally here._

_"Then let us head inside and begin our search," _Starscream said, eager to get going. He wasn't there to take in the sights. _"The sooner I regain my body the better."_

Lase was also eager to regain control of herself. She did not like sharing her body with anyone, especially insane egotistical seekers. She stepped toward the building, taking the steps two by two until she reached the door. Without a moment's hesitation she she grabbed the glass door handle and opened it.

_A/N_

_The only reason the parts with Petra are so long is because her creator (who is writing her parts for me) tends to have a little too much fun writing about her. Not that that's a __**bad**__ thing. _


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

The receptionist robot didn't even look up when Lase entered the reception area and waiting room. That was good. It meant she would not have to talk to her. Now the only thing she needed to worry about was the security cameras and there really wasn't anything she could do about that.

_"What are you waiting for?" _Starscream's voice hissed painfully into her left ear._ "Don't just stand there like an idiot, do something"_

"And what would you have me do?" she whispered so the receptionist and the few humans beings in the waiting room could not hear her. "Blindly make my way through here? I've never been in the tower before. I don't know my way around and even if I did...." she did not finish the thought.

Starscream fell silent. He was thinking. It sounded like an excuse but a good excuse. She hadn't exactly worked for Sumdac before getting a job for Fowl. He'd been the first person to give her employment when she moved to Detroit. The Decepticon only knew this because his mind was linked to hers and he read her memories when he was bored, not that they were any more entertaining than watching paint dry. But reading the mind of a squishy was too good an opportunity to pass up, especially since their minds had no defenses to probing.

Then again.. watching paint dry might have been more exciting. How could this woman even live with herself? Her life was so boring it would make a sparkling cry.

_"How can you live with yourself?"_

Lase, who'd been heading toward around the reception room, stopped, confused by his statement. "What?"

_"You have the most boring life I've ever seen," _he said.

"What are you-" then it accrued to her and realization set into her brain. "You were poking around in my mind, weren't you?"

_"Of course, "_ He sounded proud. "_I figured since the trip was going to be boring, I'd find something to entertain myself. Your memories seemed like a good alternative but they're just as tedious." _

"Who gave you permission to tap into my memories?" she demanded, feeling violated. Her life wasn't any of his business. He had no right to go poking around in it. "Do you see me trying to read yours?"

_"Whether I had permission or not isn't the issue here," _he stated. "_Besides; you're never be able to read my memories. Unlike you who had a raisin for a brain, my mind is protected by highly advanced technology."_

"Not as a ghost it isn't," she pointed out. "That only works if you have a body."

_"Don't even think about it!"_

"Why would I want to?" she said, walking out of the room and into the hall. "Your memories are probably dumb anyway."

It was clear that her words offended him. _"Take that back!" _he shouted.

"No, I don't think I will." she looked back and forth, trying to figure out which way she wanted to go. "Maybe I should have waited until it was dark before I came."

_"Too late now, fleshling." _he gave her body a shove. _"Move along. Just move along."_

* * *

"Petra Black!" Porter C. Powell exclaimed, staring down in horror at the dark haired woman crushing him in a bear hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to come visit my favorite sweet potato?" Petra cooed, using another of her pet names for him. She reached up and pinched his cheek between two fingers. "And you are just as ever!" She then reached for his glasses, attempting to take them off his face. "Let me see these, just for a minute!"

Powell made some spluttering noises, batting her hands away from his face. "I thought I told you to stay out of my office!" he snapped, practically stumbling over his chair as he fought to get away from her. "Get OUT of here or I'm going to call the police!"

"Oh, you don't really mean that!" Petra gushed, circling around behind the table to try and get close to him. Powell dodged her as if she was the plague, but this only seemed to encourage her all the more. "Stop playing hard to get! I know you want me," she giggled.

"Get out!" Powell snapped at her. By this point he had circled around to the other side his desk, with Petra slowly following. He backed away from the desk, holding his arms up in front of him—and then bumped into something. He turned and, for the first time, noticed what appeared to be a teenage girl with long dark hair. "Who are you?" he demanded. "And what are you doing in my office?"

"I am Nina," the girl replied shortly. She pointed toward Petra. "I came in with crazy pants there."

Powell raised his eyebrows, then narrowed them in Petra's direction suspiciously. The woman was now coming around to their side of the desk, still wearing that ludicrous grin on her features. "Why did you bring this girl to my office?" he demanded. Petra often came to his office wanting to force her affections on him, or at least to take some of his lunch, but this was something new altogether.

"Oh," Petra glanced at Nina, as if remembering she was even there at all. Then she looked at Powell again. "She's a friend I picked up on the street!"

"That does it," Powell said, throwing up his arms. "I don't need two crazy females in my office. GET OUT, both of you, before I call security!" He went back around behind his desk and picked up his phone, his fingers hovering over the buttons threateningly.

"You don't really mean that!" Petra exclaimed. Some of her overly giddy demeanor had faded, replaced with a look that six-year-olds tended to have when Mother threatened to spank them.

"I do!" Powell snapped. "I don't want to make an issue of this, but if you don't leave me alone, I will have to call security. Just get out."

"But can't we have some food first?" she asked, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. "It looks so good!"

Powell growled, then grabbed a couple of sandwiches and handed one to Petra, and one to Nina. The gesture was obviously intended to appease more than anything else. "Now I am going to count to three," Powell grumbled, looking at his phone now. "And if you don't get out of here, I will call security. And I'm sure you don't want to end up in prison again, Petra. One, two…"

Petra was out the door before he finished, with Nina following her. The woman then bit into her sandwich, muttering something about how Powell always liked to play hard to get. "Maybe he'll be in a better mood when I visit him again," she mumbled with her mouth full.

Nina was clearly offended by the man's words. "I am NOT crazy!" she stated, her red eyes flashing. "I can't believe he said such a thing." the girl turned back to the swiftly closing door, her hands starting to glow. They grew so hot they turned the bread into toast. "Who does he think he is?"

Petra looked at the girl, noticing her hands. Yes, this was most likely the "thing" that Fowl had been talking about indeed. "Oh he didn't really mean it," she shrugged. "He just has a lot of stress with his work, so he always says things he doesn't mean. I've learned to take what he says and believe the opposite." She grinned. "I bet he actually likes you very much."

"Yeah, I bet." Nina spat, her eyes not leaving the door. "and I bet pigs can fly too."

The older woman reached out and grabbed one of Nina's arms. "Come on, we've got places to go!" she exclaimed, and attempted to escort the teenager back toward the elevator.

"Not until I teach that snot nose a lesson!" Nina shouted, shaking herself free from the woman's grip. "He's not going to get away with calling me crazy!"

Now for the first time since Nina had first seen her, Petra's eyes flashed and her face contorted with anger. She dropped the remaining portion of her sandwich and, gripping Nina's shoulder tightly in one hand, she used her other hand to slap her across the cheek. It was actually a very light slap, one that hardly hurt at all, but a slap nonetheless. "DON'T you ever talk about him like that!" Petra snarled, her eyes wide and wild. "How can you even SAY that about someone who is so cute and sexy with those pink glasses? And he gave us free lunch!" Then, as if realizing she had dropped her sandwich, she glanced down at the floor with a horrified expression on her face. Then she released Nina… and looked like she was about to burst into tears.

The girl stared down at her, her eyes wide in shock at what the woman had done, unable to think of anything to say. She suddenly felt bad, real bad and had the strongest urge to apologize.

Right at that moment, the office door opened and Powell stepped out, his face set in a scowl. He looked at both of them, obviously taking note of the fact that they were still there. "I thought I told you both to leave!" he snapped.

Petra then wailed and buried her face into her hands, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably against her palms. She sounded like she was trying to say something, but it was impossible to understand her amidst all the blubbering.

Nina turned back to Powell, her eyes flashing. "Now look what you've done!" she shouted, focusing her anger on him. "You made her cry! How could you be so _insensitive_?!"

Powell's scowl melted away into one of confusion and shock, and his mouth fell open for a moment. There was no guilt or remorse on his face, only a look of pure bewilderment. But it quickly faded, to be replaced with anger. "That does it, I am calling security!" With that he turned to go back into his office, intent on getting his phone.

"You will do no such thing!" the girl yelled so loudly it made him jump. "You will apologize to Petra or I will turn your door into splinters!"

"Who do you think you are, young lady?" Powell asked, turning back to look at her with a scowl. "You're not in charge here, and you were both told to get out several minutes ago. Now I am going to have to call security." With that, he vanished into his office before the girl could say another word.

That turned out to be a mistake. Nina handed Petra her sandwich then her hands lit up with red light. She pulled them back then let loose a blast of red energy that crashed into the man's closed door, which exploded on contact, sending cherry wood splinters flying in all directions.

Through the smoky remnants of the door, Powell could be seen looking out, his eyes wide as saucers as he gripped a phone in his hand. He then looked at the teenager who had glowing red eyes, and hands that also glowed. The phone slid onto the floor through his fingers, and he screamed. He then dove behind his desk.

Petra, who was slowly getting a hold of herself, used the hand that wasn't holding Nina's sandwich to wipe her eyes. Then she looked from the door, to Nina, and back to the door again. Suddenly, she grinned. "Wow," she said to Nina, "where can I get hands like those?"

* * *

Lase cautiously made her way down the halls of Sumdac Systems. She was being careful not to be spotted by anyone who would ask questions. But she knew she was already being watched. The prying eye of a security camera followed her every movement like a probe, reading her brain. She tried her best to ignore it, even though it felt like an lazer digging into her brain through her skull.

When she walked past the elevator Starscream issued his control on her body, forcing the woman to stop in her tracks. _"What are you doing?" _he demanded.

"What do you mean?"

He turned the woman to face the elevator. _"The lift there can take you to the level where the techno organic freak has a room," _he explained. _"Why aren't you taking it?"_

Lase sighed. "It's simple," she replied. "If I take the elevator I increase my chances of getting spotted by Professor Sumdac or his workers. I honestly want to keep a low profile and avoid any trouble."

_"Oh."_

"Now if there isn't anything else I would like to keep going."

_"One more thing before you..."_

"What?"

_"I hope you're not planning on pulling a double cross once you have it. I'd hate to see what I would do to your pretty little head if you tried it."_

Somehow him saying "pretty little head" sounded like an insult. "You have nothing to worry about, Decepticon," she said, clenching her fists. "I don't intend to do any such thing. The sooner I get you out of me, the better for the both of us."

_"Good," _he said as if it had been his idea. _"I'm glad we have that established."_

Lase rolled her one good eye and headed toward the emergency staircase. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, stepping lightly inside. She then lifted her head and stared up the winding set of stairs, her brain calculating how long it would take her and how much energy she'd use up. Finally she lowered her face and grabbed the banister.

"Time to get this over with," she said to herself.

Then she began to climb.

* * *

Outside the tower Bumblebee pulled into the parking lot and waited for Sari to climb out before transforming. Then the two took a moment to stare up at the circular building. "Do you really think she went inside?" Bumblebee asked his friend.

Sari looked up at him and nodded. "Of course she did," she told him. "We both know she was heading this way."

"But I don't see her." he said.

"Then she's already inside." Sari walked toward the door. "Come on. Let's go find her before something happens."

* * *

Petra continued to stare at Nina's glowing hands, although her eyes occasionally flicked to the ruined door, and back to the teenager again. Petra's eyes were wide, although they held no fear. In fact, she looked like a delighted five-year-old who'd just seen a fellow classmate or friend using a cool new toy she'd never seen before. "You MUST tell me where you got those hands!" she squealed. "I'd love to have something like that, if the men in white coats decide to lock me in that white room again!"

Nina looked at her, frowning. "Where I got these hands isn't any of your business," she said. "Just be happy I have them."

Petra's face fell, but then she simply shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway," she added, glancing in the direction of the door again, "I think we should go now. I'm sure my sweetie-pie probably wants to get some work done." She grinned stupidly at Powell, waving, then turned on her heel and headed toward the elevator, whistling an off-key tune to herself.

"I think your sweety-pie wants more than that," the girl commented, putting her hands in her pockets. She felt them cool down. "Either way I think we'd better get out of here before somebody comes. It's likely that the lady downstairs was alerted by the door blowing up."

Petra pressed the button on the elevator, then turned back to look at Nina. "Then why did you blow it up?" she asked, then her eyes darted back in the direction of the door, and she frowned deeply. It was almost as if she'd spotted the damaged door for the very first time.

"Because I have a bad temper," she replied, glaring at her. "So sue me? It's the one thing I have less control of than my powers."

"Hmm," Petra purred, stroking her chin thoughtfully. Just then the elevator door opened, and she stepped inside. Then she turned to face Nina, glancing the girl over as if she were an exotic animal that she could scrutinize. "Tell me… just what are you running from, anyway? I mean, who was after you when I found you?" she asked.

Nina looked away, obviously not wanting to discuss her problem. It really wasn't any of this woman's business. Plus she wasn't even sure she could trust her. For all she knew this Petra Black might decide to use it against her somehow. "Does it matter?" she asked her. "The only thing important is getting away from it."

"Oh sure," Petra nodded her head, causing her hair to flop around a bit. "But getting away from it, and staying away from it, is only half the battle, don't you think? If you don't want to live in fear for the rest of your life, you gotta face whatever it is." She grinned like a shark. "Maybe I could help you, if you help me."

"How could you help me deal with it?" she demanded, suspiciously. "It's not a simple thing like killing a rat. My problem is ten times the size of a rat and a million times meaner." she stalked toward the elevator. "And this rat isn't even made of flesh but of metal."

"Ah," Petra said, nodding. She narrowed her eyes, as if she were considering something. "Sounds like you have a problem with the Autobots, then… at least I would guess so." She pressed a button to keep the doors from closing. "You gonna get in or what?"

The woman need not have asked. Nina stepped inside and turned to face the door, folding her arms close to her chest. "I don't care _what _they're names are," she stated. "They're all just rats to me."

"Awfully big rats." Petra pulled a cigarette from her purse and promptly lit it. "I've seen the yellow one. He's kind of—AAAAIEEEE!!" She ended up burning her fingers with the lighter instead of lighting up the end of the white stick in her mouth like she intended. She dropped the lighter on the floor and promptly cried out, "HOT! HOT! HOT!" She then dropped the cigarette and stuck her fingers into her mouth.

Nina grinned.

Just then the elevator door opened. Petra, still sucking on her fingers, stepped out of the elevator, not even bothering to look to see if Nina was following. She simply walked on down the hall, past the receptionist, and then out the front door. By that time she finally removed her fingers from her mouth and dropped her hand. "I'm gonna sue the company that made that lighter!" she finally spat.

The girl moved to catch up, while asking herself why she was even following her. This lady was a fruit cake and hanging around would surely get her in trouble and attracted unwanted attention. "Just be glad you only burnt your fingers," she told her, once again putting her hands in her pockets. "It could have been something bigger."

"You're right! I could have set my head on fire!" Petra shook her head, then immediately became distracted as she looked around. "Hmm, which car do you think we should take off in?" She grinned, glancing around at all of the cars in the lot.

"How about the one we came in?" Nina said. "Unless of course that one got towed away for being an eyesore."

Petra was shaking her head. "I don't want to drive that one anymore. I like to keep my options open whenever I'm out like this. I can hotwire any vehicle on the planet!" She then looked around again, and pointed toward a small, silver-colored Porsche. "Let's go in that one!" She giggled and clapped her hands together.

The girl eyed it in disgust. _Silver_? "Why that one?" she demanded. "It's ugly."

Jaw dropping, Petra looked as if she was about to slap Nina. "It's GORGEOUS!" she practically shrieked, as if she had just heard the worst kind of blasphemy. "It's also expensive! How can you say that?! Riding in that car would be like riding in pure gold!"

"I don't care for cars or gold," Nina responded letting her hands fall into view so Petra could see them glowing. "and if you try to hit me for stating my option I will respond in kind, only mine will be much worse."

"Oh yeah, you have the hands that blow up doors," Petra said, looking more intrigued than intimidated. "Well, whatever. I don't feel like indulging in violence; if I want that, I'll watch TV. So… what car do you want us to go in?" she asked again.

Nina looked around the parking lot until her eyes fell on a blue limo. She smile. "That one," she said, pointing.

Petra's eyes lit up. "Good choice!" she exclaimed, and slapped Nina on the back approvingly, right between the shoulder blades. "I'll get to it!" She then made a dash toward the limo.

At that moment something very strange happened. Nina's back filled with an excruciating pain. She screamed in and fell over, as the sound of ripping cloth reached her ears.

Not even noticing what was happening to Nina, Petra reached the limo and opened the door on the driver's side. Thankfully for her, it was unlocked. She then reached inside and, after some clever hotwiring, the engine started up and purred to life. She then grinned at herself, and glanced back in Nina's direction. Then she blinked. "What're you doing down there?" she demanded.

"My back!" she screamed, wrapping her arms around herself. "There's something wrong with my back!" she reached back and nearly cut off a finger on something sharp. Her eyes widened when she saw what was causing the pain. Wings. "What the hell?"

Petra got out of the limo and, leaving the door open and the engine running, made a dash toward the girl. She crouched down beside Nina, looking her over. "AH!" she exclaimed. "I'd say you're a robot." Petra giggled. "Or part robot, or whatever. What do you think?"

"I think I don't want them!" she shouted panicking. "Get them off me!"

Reaching over to touch the strange, metal objects, Petra carefully ran her fingers over them. She was careful not to cut herself on the sharp edges. "Looks like they're stuck good in there," she murmured. "Though if you want me to rip a huge hole in your back, along with your shoulder blades and possibly part of your spine, I suppose I could try." She suddenly grinned. "If I do take them out, can I keep them?"

"Forget it." Nina forced herself to stand, though it only made her back hurt worse. Purple colored blood run down her coat and dripped onto the pavement. She didn't even notice but Petra did. "I'll think of a way to get rid of them myself. Let's just get out of here."

Petra scrutinized the girl for a moment. "You really need some clothes," she muttered. "That looks AWFUL on you. And now it's all ripped!" Her face lit up as a sudden thought came to her. "I know, we'll go back to my place and get you some clothes! I think I have some stuff that might you. Come on." She turned and headed toward the driver's side of the limo.

The girl followed, though her pace was slower. "The least you could have done was helped me over there," she muttered, her hands tightly gripping her arms.

Once they were both inside the limo, Petra muttered something about always wanting to be able to drive a limo, then she smashed her foot against the gas pedal, causing the engine to roar as she pulled out of the parking lot and away from the building. Then she sped down the road, running straight through a red light and having to swerve in order to avoid a collision with a truck. It was a miracle that they didn't actually slam into the other vehicle.

_A/N_

_Woop. So much Petra. Well I don't write the Petra parts and her creator has a lot of fun doing stuff with her. I don't mind it. At least it helps with the story. _


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Optimus Prime just barely missed being hit by a light blue limo. As he swerved to avoid it he lost control of himself and crashed into a sign. "Sparks," he cursed transforming into standard mode. "Why can't humans pay more attention to their own traffics laws?"

He looked back toward the street, his optics falling onto the limo disappearing down the street. "Slag it!"

Just then his comlink started clicking. He put his finger to the side of his head, activating it. "Yeah?" he said in a not so pleasant voice. The accident, thanks to the carelessness of the limo's driver, had put him in a foul mood. "What?"

"Optimus?" Bulkhead's voice spoke into his audio unit.

"What do you want?" he asked, unable to get the irritation out of his voice, though he knew it was a bad idea.

The other robot seemed to be having a hard time explaining what he wanted because of Optimus tone. It seemed like he thought the Prime was bad at him. "Well, I'm sorry I took so long it's just.."

"It's not you," Optimus finally told him. "I just have had a rotten day."

Reassured that nothing was his fault, Bulkhead manged to say. "Well I uh.. i think I found something."

"You did?" finally some good news.

"Yes, but I think you'd better come here and get a look at it before I do anything."

The Prime sighed. "Okay," he said. "Where are you?"

After Bulkhead gave his location Optimus transformed and moved down the street, completely forgetting about the light blue limo.

* * *

Climbing the stairs proved to be a very stupid idea. Lase, who never worked out in her life and was only thin through her family history, was out of breath after climbing two flights. She stopped on the landing and leaned against the railing, panting heavily. "Why do stairs have to be so exhaustive?"

_"You could have taken the elevator," _Starscream's voice spoke up. He sounded patronizing, like he was her father. _"__**I **__never wanted to climb the stairs."_

"_You _don't have to climb the stairs," she pointed out, straightening up after catching her breath. "_I'm_ climbing them. You're just a voice attached to those stupid implants." she rested her hand over her right eye which began to throb. "So don't patronize me. I'm doing the best I can."

_"Well, to use an earth phrase, you suck."_

"Shut up."

_"Are you ordering me around?!"_

All the implants started hurting again. She cried out and fell onto the floor, wrapping her arms around herself. _Stupid stupid me! _she thought, clenching her teeth together. _I forgot he could do that! _

"Stop it!" she pleaded.

_"No, I don't think I will."_

"Please stop it!"

Begging worked. The pain subsided and she was able to get back up.

_"Just remember who's the one in charge here, flesh bag," _Starscream's voice whispered in her ear. _"As long as you have those parts in you, I can do whatever I want to you. You're not a free person. You're my servant."_

"I'm nobody's servant," she growled, grabbing for the railing. Slowly she began to climb again. "I'm not just doing this because you told me to I'm doing this because I want to."

The seeker made no response this time. She continued climbing, realizing that his wasn't any better than her former boss. Professor Fowl was a control freak but Starscream was an even worse control freak. But unlike Fowl, he didn't care the least bit about her nor did he think of her has anything more than a slave.

_"No come back this time?" _Starscream asked her. _"Maybe you are learning something after all."_

She continued climbing, ignoring all his attempts to bait her into a confrontation.

* * *

Bumblebee did not see the woman when he and Sari entered the building. He looked around, scanning for her energy signature. Because of their encounter on the street the Autobot assumed that the woman was not a human at all but a robot in a human form. Like Sari but not really. More like a Pretender.

Sari on the other hand still thought she was a human being just with powers similar to the girl she'd fought with the night before. That sounded like the most logical explanation.

But Bee wasn't going to change his mind. To him anyone who could shoot plasma energy out of their hands, meant they were a robot. "After all," he argued. "You do it and you're a robot even if you_ do _have some organic components."

Eventually the girl gave up and let him think whatever. "Look why don't we just forget about that?' she asked. "If she's a robot then you should be able to pick up her energy signature. So try it. It will make finding her easier."

Bee, seeing the wisdom in that, did exactly what she suggested. "I am not picking her up," he said after a moment.

"She's in here," Sari assured him. "I _know_ it."

"_How _do you know?" he questioned.

"I just _do_," she moved across the waiting room. "Let's just get looking. I don't want her to get away with whatever she's planning."

"Do you even know what she's planning?" he asked her.

"No," she replied. "But from her actions on the street, it can't be good. If she was only coming here to get a job why did she attack us?"

"I don't know," Bee replied. "But what could she possibly accomplish by coming here?"

"I don't know," the girl admitted. "But that's what we're going to find out."

* * *

Nina lay in the back of the limo, unable to move. Thanks to those wings her back hurt like crazy. The parts on her back where they came out of still bled periodically and her now ruined coat was covered in it. In the front seat the girl could hear Petra Black's off key humming as if nothing strange had happened.

_How can she be so cheerful? _the girl wondered. _Doesn't she care about anything?_

"We're almost there!" Petra sang out joyously from the front. And sure enough, the limo suddenly swerved sharply as if trying to turn on a time, and this was accompanied by the terrible screech of tires. Then, with a sudden jolt, the limo stopped as Petra slammed her foot down on the brakes.

The engine seemed to growl in protest, then shut down. The air was filled with the smell of burning tires. And all that Petra could say was, "I think I've ruined my heel!" And then she swung the door open and got out.

"Hey!" Nina shouted from the floor of the back seat. The jolt had knocked her to the floor. "Don't just walk away! Help me! I can't move!"

"Oh!" Petra exclaimed, turning around and heading back toward the limo. She limped a bit, not because she was hurting but because she'd broken her heel after stomping on the brake pedal. She opened the door, leaned in, and gently grabbed Nina by her underarms. "Come on now," she said, "nice and easy!" She then yanked on the teenager, which got Nina out… but sent both of them crashing to the ground beside the car.

"Ow!" the girl screamed. "Be careful! Don't you think I'm in enough pain already thanks to this little unwanted addition?"

Petra slid herself out from under the girl, who'd landed on top of her when they fell. "You think that's bad? I broke my shoe!" Petra frowned down at her foot, then began to take off her high heels.

"I have freakin razor sharp wings sticking out of my back!" the girl shouted angrily. "And that's not more important than a stupid shoe that you can replace?!" she got onto her hands and knees and glanced back at the wings once more. "I think my problem is higher up on the list of "priority" than a stupid shoe."

Frowning, Petra kicked her shoes away and then stood. "Well, come on maybe I can help you out inside." With that she bent over and grabbed Nina's shoulders, hauling her to her feet. Suddenly, she grinned. "This reminds me a little of Sakura!" With that, she slipped her hands around Nina's waist. "Okay, hold still," she said.

"Who the heck is Sakura?"

"Oh, uh…" Petra hesitated. "No one! Why who is Sakura? I've never even heard of the name Sakura! Have you?" She tightened her arms around Nina's waist.

Nina didn't reply. The woman's rambling had confused her and she didn't have a comeback. Instead she just allowed the woman to lead her away.

Finally they reached the door. Petra freed one arm just long enough to open it and then she brought Nina inside. "Okie-dokie," she said, escorting her near the couch, "Just sit there. And I'll get you some clothes, okay? Maybe Herbert will help me pick out something nice for you!"

"Herbert? Who is-" then she stopped herself, deciding it was wiser just to let her do what she was doing without asking questions about other people. For all she knew 'Herbert" could be an imaginary friend.

Petra walked out of the room and then went into her bedroom. The sounds of rummaging could be heard as she went through the closet. She could also be heard chattering away, as if talking to either herself or to someone else. But no other voices were heard, so it was safe to presume that she was probably talking to herself, or something in her imagination.

Finally she emerged, carrying several different hangers of clothing in each hand, and held them out. "Me and Herbert agreed that these might look best on you!" she announced proudly. "Although… we might have to figure out what to do about those wings first," she mused aloud, then set the clothes down on a nearby chair.

"Well don't look at me," Nina snapped. "I don't know what to do with them either. It's not like I can make them go away at will, you know."

Petra frowned deeply, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Well," she said as a slow, sly smile spread across her features, "I do have an idea. I know someone who can help you." She giggled.

Nina raised an eyebrow and eyed her warily. "Yeah, who?"

Even though it didn't seem possible, Petra's grin simply widened further. It looked like her face was going to split in half. "I'll be right back," she said, turning and heading off down the hall. "I gotta make a phone call!" she called out over her shoulder as she went.

The girl watched her leave the room then sighed and leaned gently back against the couch, in an attempt to not jar her wings. "I guess I don't have any other choice..."

* * *

"No!" Prowl sat bolt upright on the examining table.

Ratchet, who'd been looking at the cyber ninja's X-ray scan on the monitor turned to face him. "No what?" he demanded. "I haven't even touched you yet."

"It's not you," the black and gold robot replied, turning his gaze on the medic. His face held a look of urgency. "I just got a really back feeling all of a sudden."

"About what?"

"About that girl," he replied. "Something tells me that if we don't find her soon bad things will happen."

"You're just being paranoid," Ratchet said, resting his hand in his chest. He gently pushed him back onto the table. "Now lie down and don't move!"

Prowl did what he was told but not without reservations. Didn't Ratchet see how important this way? He didn't have time for repairs. He had to help the others find that girl and quick!

But there was nothing he could do at the moment. If he tried to get away without being repaired he knew the medic would probably knock him out and then restrain him to keep him still. It would be best just to let him do his job and not make things harder.

_No matter how I feel. _

* * *

Petra went out the back door and quickly sat down on the topmost step of her back porch. Then she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed Fowl's number. Then she simply waited to see if he would answer.

"Hello?" the scientist answered after the third ring.

"Hi Fowl!" Petra greeted in a delighted tone. "How are you doing?"

"I'd be doing better if you didn't call me while I was driving!" she heard a horn blaring then the screech of brakes. "Argh! Move over, you maniac!"

"Oh but I have news you're going to like!" Petra went on cheerfully. "I think I have the thing you're looking for. But if you don't want to talk right now…" She trailed off indicatively, her finger hovering over the "end call" button on her phone.

"Wait what? No don't hang up!" another horn blaring, this time a semi. "I know what way I was going, you moron! I have the right of way! Stay in your own lane!"

Petra smirked, growing more amused. She had decided that she would simply use this situation for her own entertainment, at least for the time-being. It certainly beat being bored around the house, didn't it? And since Fowl had chosen to fire her a few years ago, well… maybe it might be fun to play games with him. And that freaky little teenager was the key to do it.

"Well," Petra went on in a giddy tone, "let's see… she has dark hair, she looks like a teenager, she's got a purple mark on her cheek, and she's got these cool metal wings sticking out of her back. Plus she fired red energy bolts out of her hands a while ago. Does that sound like the thing you're looking for?"

Fowl didn't reply. It seemed like he was giving himself some time to process the information. Finally, after a few minutes of silence he said. "That could be it. I'll be right over. Keep her there until then."

"Oh but I haven't even said where I am!" Petra told him, this time trying to suppress her giggles.

"Well _where_ are you then?" he said impatiently.

"I'm in the middle of the park, right underneath a big maple tree. The girl is a few feet away from me. I have her hidden in the pushes." Petra had to drop her head down and hold the phone away for a moment so she could contain her laughter. Yeah, this was just so much fun! She would send Fowl on a wild goose chase, and then he would no doubt call her back when he didn't find her. Petra loved pranks, and it had been way too long since she'd played one on anybody.

"You are not."

Petra's feeling of good humor died down instantly. Her face fell and her eyes narrowed. "Huh?" she spoke into the phone, sounding puzzled. "But of course I am! I'm in the park!"

"Petra, you should know by now that I am wise to your little pranks," he responded as if talking to a child. "If you were in the park I would hear the sounds of birds, water from the fountain, and children playing. Since I cannot hear any such thing, I know that you are lying."

Scowling at the phone even though there was no way Fowl could see her expression, Petra spat, "Well then where do you think I am?"

"I think you're in a building."

"Close. I'm right outside a building." She grinned. If she could keep him guessing for a little bit, this would still be worth her while.

"Don't get cute."

"I'm going back inside now!" Petra exclaimed. She stood up and noisily stamped her feet across her back porch, opened the door, stepped inside and then slammed it shut. "I'm inside now!"

"Good, now where are you?" he asked again. "And don't lie to me this time."

Petra had thought of another way she could have some more fun. She continued walking down the hallway and back toward the front of the house while speaking loudly into the phone. "Oh why don't you take a guess?" she said cheerfully. "And I'll make some spaghetti for when you get here!"

Instantly he knew where she was. "I'll be right over." then hung up.

She had just walked back into the living room when the connection terminated. "YOU BASTARD!" she yelled. "I WASN'T DONE TALKING TO YOU YET!"

She threw the phone across the room, then threw herself down onto the couch with a heavy sigh… momentarily forgetting that Nina was there.

"Hey! Watch where you're flopping!" Nina shouted, her back screaming with pain. "Did you forget I'm here and ailing?"

Petra moved instantly, scooting herself off the couch and allowing herself to fall on the floor. She landed heavily, in sort of a seated position. She then glanced at Nina, the wheels turning in her head. Maybe it was still possible to have some kind of fun… somehow. "Okay kiddo, listen up," she said, "someone's coming here to see you."

"Me?" instantly the girl's eyes filled with fear and the urge to run overcame her. She looked toward the door. "I don't _want_ to see anybody."

"Then what do you want to do?" Petra asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I want to get out of here," the girl stated, getting to her feet. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Petra began to consider her options. In all seriousness, this was no longer funny, nor was it any fun anymore. In fact, it was getting the point where she would have to choose which side she wanted to be on. Either she had to keep the girl here for Fowl, or help the girl out.

"Well," she said, stalling so she would have some time to think, "um… if you're going outside we need to do something about those wings, you know."

Nina froze. For a moment she'd forgotten about that. She couldn't exactly go anywhere in her current state. "You're right," she consented.

* * *

Professor Andrew Fowl in his hurry did an illegal U-turn, ignoring the sound of blaring horns of protest. Let those fools complain, he was in a hurry. Soon they would all see his genius and U-turns would be the last things on their minds.

_That is unless Miss Black messes up and loses it again, _he thought driving down the street and speeds far beyond legal. _Somehow I get the feeling that she will ruin this. She's always messing things up it's almost like she was born with bad luck. I bet she smashed a lot of mirrors in her early years._

* * *

Optimus Prime reached Bulkhead's location almost half an hour after he'd contacted him. As he pulled onto the street he saw the larger Autobot leaning down and peeking into the window of a building. "What is is, Bulkhead?" he questioned as he returned to standard mode.

The green robot didn't even look up. Instead he pointed into the building, his bright blue optics focused on whatever it was that currently held his interest. "Get a load of that."

The Prime joined him in front of the building, which looked like it hadn't been used in years, and squatted down so he could see inside. What he saw made his optics grow wide in shock. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked.

"I believe so," Bulkhead replied, looking at him.

Optimus looked back inside, frowning. "What is Starscream's body doing here?" he asked.

The bigger robot shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "But if I had to make an assumption I'd say this is where it was taken after that thing that happened after Megatron was defeated."

"Prowl did say the body was gone when he went looking for it," Optimus replied, thoughtfully. "But I still don't understand why anybody would want it. What do they intend to do with it?"

Bulkhead had no answer. He was just as confused as his friend was. "But now that we found it, what are we going to do with it?" he asked. "We can't just let it stay in there, you know. I mean I know its just a Decepicon but..."

Optimus frowned. "Right now it's safe where it is," he told him. "We can always come back and get it later. At the moment we have another problem to deal with."

"The girl."

"Yes," Optimus replied. "That girl with the strange cellular structure." he paused for a moment, thinking to himself. "I don't know why but something tells me that these two things are connected somehow, we just don't know why or how yet." he looked at Bulkhead. "You stay here and if anyone comes here and stops, contact me."

"Right away boss-bot," Bulkhead said saluting.

Optimus went back into vehicle mode. "Be sure to hide yourself!" he called back before taking off down the street. _I'm starting to get a look at the bigger picture now. Something tells me that that girl is somehow involved with this. But how? and why can't we find her? _

* * *

Lase reached the desired floor ten minutes later. She paused on the landing, staring through the tiny window that allowed her to see inside, allowing herself a moment to catch her breath. The hall looked clear, nobody seemed to be there.

_"What are you waiting for?" _Starscream demanded. _"Get moving!"_

She could feel pressure on her shoulders as if he had his hands on them and was shoving her forward. "You don't have to be so pushy," she growled, resting her hand on the door knob. "I'm going."

But just as she was about to open the door she saw something that made her stop. At that moment the elevator door opened and two figures stepped out. A large black and yellow robot and a girl in an orange and yellow dress. The woman paused then ducked down out of sight. "Drat," she cursed. "Not them again."

_"What now?"_

"Did you not see the girl and her autobot friend?" Lase demanded. "I'm not going in there if they're here."

_"Why not?_" he asked. "_Let me take care of them."_

"And attract unwanted attention?" she demanded. "Forget it. We're just going to have to think of another way."

_"You think of another way and while you're doing that I think I'll get a short recharge."_

_Sure, _she thought, rolling her eyes. _Leave it all up to me. _

_A/N_

_Still co-writing a bit. I never intended it when I started but Miss Black's in a lot of chapters and tends to steal the spotlight. XD Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Petra is funny, even if she is somewhat of an attention hog. _


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Sari, are you sure she went up here?" Bumblebee asked his friend. "I mean I'm not picking up anything and well, I don't see anything that would tell us that she did come here..."

"Oh, she's here all right," Sari said, her focus falling onto the door to the emergency stairs. For a moment her gaze lingered, as if she knew exactly where the woman was hiding. "I can feel it."

"But what if you're wrong?" he questioned still unsure. "What if you only _think_ she's here to cause trouble?"

"Bee, do I have to repeat myself?" she snapped, turning to face him. "That lunatic attacked us outside on the street! If she wasn't up to something bad why would she do that?"

Bumblebee let the subject drop. Instead he asked, folding his arms. "So then where are we going to start looking then?" he questioned. "I don't think we'll find anything just standing here."

"Don't worry about that," she told him, heading down the hall to her bedroom. "We;ll look for her. I just want to check on something first."

"What?"

"My key."

"Your Key?" Now Bumblebee really was confused. Why in the world would she want to check on her Key? That thing hadn't worked since Sari had used it on herself.

"Yes, my Key," she told him. "Now are you coming or are you just going to stand in the middle of the hall all day?"

"I'm coming." and he moved to catch up with her.

* * *

"They're gone now," Lase said, peeking through the window.

_"Good. Now get moving." _

Once again she felt pressure on her shoulders as if his hands were resting on them and pushing her forward. "Okay, I'm moving," she said, resting her hands on the doorknob. "No need to rush me like this."

_"If we don't move now those two will prevent you from getting what I want," _he hissed. _"Now get your aft in gear, and if you run into any trouble with them I'll take care of it."_

Namely he was going to use her body as a weapon. No, she didn't want that but she had no way of preventing it if he tried. After all as long as she had his circuitry implanted her in body she had no choice. Well now wasn't the time to worry about it. She had work to do and the sooner she got it done the better for herself and that control freak Decepticon clinging to her.

With that in mind she opened the door and stepped into the hall.

She stood still for a moment, her eyes focused on the way the girl and her Autobot friend had gone then she turned away and headed in the opposite direction.

* * *

Prowl wasn't feeling very patient as Ratchet worked to repair the damage to his frame. He felt he needed to get out and find that girl before something really bad happened. But how was he going to find her? After he'd taken care of Slipstream the girl just disappeared and he had no idea where to start looking. What if she was no longer in the city?

Finally, after the medic was finished repairing him, Ratchet stepped back and allowed the cyber ninja to get up. "You know," he said. "I'd really like it if you didn't get damaged so much," he grumbled, turning away. "and it's always you, you should learn to be more careful."

"I can't help it," Prowl stated, turning and swinging his legs over the side of the table. "It's just how it is."

"and now you're going to go out and try to find that little techno organic and just get yourself damaged again."

"I guess that's just how things are." the cyber ninja headed toward the door.

When he stepped out of the room Ratchet sighed. "He never listens."

* * *

Sari opened the drawer to her night stand and reached inside, pulling out her All Spark key. It felt cold under her fingers. In all senses it was dead since being inactive after she'd used it on herself. She sometimes wondered if the All Spark key had given her all of its power, including every single bit of healing power and Cybertronain knowledge it possessed. Maybe that was why she knew so much and could do so much. But it was only a guess.

Just like the reason for that woman being here. She didn't know why or how, but she knew that was whole purpose for her being there. But what could she want with the key? What reason could there be for her desiring it?

But what if Sari was wrong? What if she wasn't there for the key at all but something else?

_We'll find out soon enough, _she thought, placing the key back into the drawer and shutting it.

"Is it still there?" Bumblebee asked her when she stepped back into the hall.

"Yes," she replied, looking up at him.

"Then I guess that means you were wrong," he stated, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. "She wasn't after it after all."

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet," the techno organic girl responded. "We have not found the woman yet so that means she's still here and she could still be after it and just hasn't found it yet."

"So what do you want me to do then?" he asked. "Sit here and wait for her?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I've got a better idea,"

The yellow Autobot eyed her curiously. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Mind telling me what it is?"

She reached up and grabbed his index finger. "Come with me," she ordered, leading him down the hall.

Bee rolled his optics but allowed her to take him away from the room though something told him that whatever she was planning wasn't a good idea.

* * *

_"You're going the wrong way."_

Lase paused in the middle of the hallway and angrily clenched her fists together. "I am _not _going the wrong way!" she insisted.

_"Yes, you are. The key is in the other direction."_

"And how would you know that?"

_"I've been in here before and I know where that thing would be hidden."_

Well this was news to her. But if he knew why hadn't he said something before? Was it because he wanted to make her look like an idiot again? She wouldn't put it past him. That seemed to be his sole purpose in death. "Fine, if you're so smart why don't you tell me where I can find this key?"

She felt his hand on her shoulders then him purposely turning her around. _"It's this way, flesh bag." _he stated, leading her purposely back the way they came.

He sounded like a mother being patient with her mentally retarded child. She almost said something but changed her mind. She was learning to just go with the flow and not bother asking any questions or making a big deal out of it.

* * *

Since she would be stuck with that lunatic for awhile, Nina decided she might as well change her clothes. After asking Petra where she could change and after the woman actually gave her a reasonable, coherent, answer, she could change in the bedroom, the girl went to the indicated location and began to do exactly that.

First she gingerly stripped off the shirt and coat she'd taken from the lab when she'd escaped. Those had been the only articles of clothing she'd worn but she'd been in such a hurry that she didn't really care. She wasn't even sure why she'd bothered putting on clothing. What was the purpose of it anyway?. As she took those articles off she noticed the blood staining them. It was dry but it still had an unusual color. She studied it a moment. Something told her it didn't look right. Why would her blood be that color?

It was a mystery just like everything else about her. She shook her head then set the ruined clothing onto the bed before reaching over to collect the other clothes. Wondering about things she didn't know would drive her crazy. Whatever had happened to her in the past didn't matter now.

If she had a past..

Now she noticed something that took her mind off that little detail.

Petra had added more than a shirt to the onsomble. There were a few other things as well. She picked the one item up, staring at it in confusion. It looked like some kind of sling shot.

"What in the world is this for?" she asked herself, turning it over a few times. "Do I put it on my head or something?"

She looked back toward the door. Maybe she should ask Petra but she was afraid of what the woman might say. She might give her a weird answer, like you used that thing to store nose hairs or something. Or not. The woman obviously knew what it was for, otherwise why would she have given it to her?

_Just ask her, _a voice in her head ordered. _It couldn't hurt. She might be nuts but I'm sure she won't lie to you about it._

Nina rolled her eyes. "Okay fine," she said. "I'll ask her." then she stepped back into the livingroom.

* * *

Fowl got caught in a traffic jam.

"Oh, come on!" he yelled at the car in front of him, slamming his hand on the horn. "There's plenty of room! Move your lazy behind!"

The person in said car, a small, red, compact job, him proved to be the wrong person to tick off. Suddenly the driver's side door opened and a man that looked way too big to fit into such a small vehicle climbed out and slammed the door shut behind him. He then proceeded toward the scientist's car, the expression on his face saying everything.

Fowl's eyes grew wide under his glasses as the huge mountain of muscle stalked toward him. The scientist instantly locked all the doors in his car and closed the windows even though he knew it would do little if this guy decided to start pounding on him.

When the man reached him he leaned over and tapped on the window. Fowl shook his head and kept the window shut, smiling sheepishly. The man obviously wasn't going to put up with that and smashed the window with his fists then reached inside and grabbed Fowl by the collar of his lab coat. Before he could do anything, the Incredible Hulk pulled him out of the car through the window.

"You gotta problem, buddy?" the man demanded, pulling Andrew close so their faces were only inches apart.

"Uh no not really," Fowl replied, hoping that would satisfy this gorilla.

It obviously didn't. "If it was nothing why did you blast that horn at me?" he demanded.

"I uh.." he had no answer which only made the situation worse. He was in for a bruising and there was nothing he could do to stop him.

_Sorry Miss Black but it seems I'm going to be a little late._

_

* * *

_

"Excuse me," Nina said walking into the livring room in her birthday suit with that bra in her hands. "I was wondering if I could ask you something."

Petra, who had been halfway through another cigarette, glanced toward the girl. She stared at Nina blankly for a moment then turned away again, as if finding her smoke far more interesting at the moment. "Look kiddo," she said, "it's a VERY good thing I found you when I did."

The girl frowned. "What's _that _supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Taking one last puff from the cigarette, Petra put it down on the ash tray and then approached the girl, folding her arms. "Because…" Petra glanced the girl over, then shook her head slightly. "Do I really have to say it?"

Nina folded her arms. "Well if you're going to be like that just forget it." she turned to head back into the room.

"Alright honey, hold up!" Petra grabbed her shoulder. "Let me guess… you came in here to ask me about this bra, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be holding it like that, and you wouldn't have come out here NAKED." She chuckled in spite of herself. "Let's just say it's a good thing you're with me, not at a strange man's house, sweetheart."

The girl looked at the bra in her hands. "Well I, I just wanted to know what this was…"

Petra grinned. "Well, I've never really tried my hand at being a teacher before, though I'll anything at least once… just to see if it works! And, I believe in teaching by showing!" Right then, she grabbed the edges of her own shirt and pulled it off. "See?" she then said, indicating the bra she was wearing. "This is that that is for."

Nina stared at the woman's chest. "Oh so _that's_ where it's supposed to go."

Clapping her hands a little, Petra nodded. "Yup! It's a boulder holder."

"Boulder?"

"Yeah, you know, the um… things that go into the bra!" Petra exclaimed.

"They're called boulders?!" Nina stared at her in confusion.

"NO!" Petra shook her head sharply. "They're actually called breasts." She frowned. "I bet you don't even know what they're for, either."

"No I can't say that I do," she said. "are they anything like balloons?"

"Well sweety, let me ask you this… well, you have never had a boyfriend, correct?"

"I don't even know what a boyfriend is."

"Ohhhh dear." Petra did a face palm right in front of the girl. "Well girl, we're not going to have THAT talk today. Though I will say this… do not go into bed with a boy until you talk to me about it first, if you ever decide you want to do that, okay?"

"Uh okay." Nina still had no idea what the woman was talking about but it seemed like a good idea to just go along with her. "So this thing goes around those things... what about that other thing?"

"What other thing?" Petra asked dully.

"That triangular white thing with the holes in it."

"You… you mean underwear." With that, Petra pulled her skirt off and then stuck out her pelvis, placing her hands on her hips. "This is what that is for," she said indicatively. Then she added, "It also protects what boys REALLY want to get at." She threw back her head and howled a short burst of laughter.

"I don't care about what boys want," Nina responded, making a disgusted face. "I just wanted to know what that stuff was for. Now that I know..." she let her voice trail off. "But how am I going to put this bra thing on when I have these blasted wings sticking out of my back." she turned her back to her. Do you think you can see if there's a switch or something back there that can turn them off?"

Petra put a finger on her chin as she leaned forward, studying the girl thoughtfully. "Well, what exactly happened to make them come out in the first place?" she finally asked.

"You hit me on the back!" Nina snapped.

"Oh yeah. Well then," Petra said, raising her hand, "let's try it again!" Before Nina could even react, the woman smacked her right between the shoulder blades, hard.

The girl hit the floor, landing hard on her hands and knees. "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"To get your wings back in!" Petra stated as if it were completely obvious.

The girl looked at her back."They were still there. "Well it didn't wor-" the wings made a clicking noise and then folded up and vanished into her back as if they had never been there. "Work…"

Petra giggled gleefully. "Okay sweetie," she then said, somehow taking more and more of a motherly role toward the girl, and making herself wonder if perhaps she might like a child of her own someday. She bent over and grabbed the girl's shoulders, gently pulling her to her feet. "You okay now?" she then asked.

"I'm fine," the girl replied. "But my back is killing me. Next time you wanna deactivate my wings don't hit me so hard."

"Aww I'm sorry about that," Petra crooned, then tried to pull the girl into a hug.

* * *

Sari led Bee to another part of the tower. e moment he stepped inside he instantly recognized it as the room where Professor Sumdac had housed Megatron's Head two years prier. He also noticed that this was the man's work room. "What are we doing in here?" he asked.

"We're dealing with our problem," the girl said crossing the room and resting her hand on the control panel. She typed out a command and the screen came to life.

Bee say that it shoved every room in the building. That meant that this was the screen for the security cameras. "So what are we going to do?" he asked. "Watch her roam the halls and see if we can catch her in the act."

Sari frowned up at him. "Of course not."

"Then what are we doing?" he didn't understand what this was about. So what if they could watch the rooms? It wasn't very helpful. And Sari didn't really seem to have a plan at all. To him it was almost like she was just pretending she did. "Sari, if you don't really have any ideas why don't you just admit it?"

"It's not that I don't have a plan." she stated. "It's just that I intend to prove a hunch." she spotted the woman on the screen. 'There!" she said pointing. "Do you see that?"

Bumblebee turned his attention to the monitor. What he saw made his optics widen in shock. "Holy All Spark," he gasped. "What in Cybertron is _that?!"_

_A/N_

_A slightly shorter chapter. No thanks to some craziness that went on in here I had to up the rating. _


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Are those _hands_?"

Sari was unable to answer that question. She wasn't sure of what she was seeing either. She stared at the paused image of the woman on the screen. Maybe it was a fluke of the camera but she was sure the lady had some kind of glowing white something following her. When Sari zoomed in on the image it didn't make it any better. Whatever the glow was it had no shape. It was just a white thing... well not exactly a _thing._ One part of the image had a shape. The hands or more like talons on the woman's shoulders.

"What is _that_?" Bumblebee asked, startling her.

"I don't know," Sari said again. She rested her hand on her chin and leaned forward, studying the image intently. "But if I had to use a word for it it looks like it could be a ghost."

"A ghost!?" Bumblebee stared at her with wide optics. "You mean like those things those people on that one show are always trying to find?"

Sari nodded. "That would be it."

The Autobot suddenly looked terrified. "I don't want to run into a ghost!" he stated, his optics widening. "If you're going to be ghost busting count me out!"

"Bee," Sari said patiently. "I'm not really sure if this _is_ a ghost. I'm just saying it _looks_ like a ghost."

"Well how can it not be a ghost but look like one?"

"It's probably just a camera fluke," she replied, tapping out a command on the keyboard. "A glitch." The screen cleared up a bit and the white glow faded out. "You see? I was right. There's nothing to worry about."

But Bumblebee wasn't sure about that. Something told him that white image they'd seen was more than just a fluke of the camera. It really _was _something, but what? A real ghost or something much more dangerous?  
"Well now that we know where she is I think we'd better go and take care of her," Sari said, shutting down the system. She looked up at her friend. "Let's go."

"All right," he said uncertainly.

* * *

"Ahhh! Will you knock it off already!?" the woman shouted when Starscream's ghostly talons dug into the flesh of her bare shoulders. He might be a ghost but that didn't mean he couldn't hurt her.

The Decepticon loosened his grip on Lace's shoulders ever so slightly. _"Aww, did I hurt you?" _he asked her in a baby-ish voice.

"No, you didn't hurt me," she snapped. "I just don't like you pushing me around like I'm a luggage cart."

_"Well that's basically what you are."_

"I am not!" she protested. "I'm a human being! The least you could do was treat me with some kind of respect."

_"Why should I?_" He asked._ You don't mean anything to me anyway. Why don't you just keep moving instead of wasting both our times standing around and arguing with me like a brat. Just shut up and move!"_

_Why do I even bother arguing with him? _she wondered. _He_ _doesn't care. We both know that. It would be easier if I just did what he asked instead of arguing. _She sighed and moved forward without his prompting.

A short time later she stood in front of Sari's bedroom door. She paused for a moment, suddenly feeling nervous. Did she really want to break into some-body's bedroom?

_"What are you waiting for?" _Starscream hissed into her ear. _"Open the door already!"_

But she wasn't sure she wanted to. What if it was booby trapped or something? What if an alarm went off the moment she pushed it open? She was tempted to tell Starscream these things but decided not to. It wasn't like he would listen to her anyway. After all; she _was_ just a flesh creature and he was a superior robot.

_But you can't just stand around and do nothing either, _she reminded herself. _It took you long enough to get here to begin with. I think now would be a good time to just get this over with so you can have your mind and body all to yourself again._

Okay she was convinced. Time to get this done. No more holding back.

Taking a deep breath, the women touched the door and pushed. It slip open with only the faint sound of moving air. She stepped cautiously inside.

Nothing happened.

What a relief.

Okay time to get searching. She glanced around the room. There weren't a lot of places that key could be hidden. She wondered if Starscream knew where it was already but didn't ask. It would be better if she found it herself.

_"Well are you going to look or not?"_

She sighed and moved forward.

* * *

Prowl didn't like feeling as if he wasn't doing anything. Even as he drove through the city of Detroit in an attempt to find that girl he had to wonder about himself. Was looking for her even a good idea on his part? Every time he came across her she would just run away. She blamed him for something that never happened and insisted on holding it over him. But he didn't know what she was even talking about. He had never killed a human being in his entire life, not even one such as herself.

But was she even a human at all?

That was what bothered him.

Much as the girl looked human other things said otherwise. But she wasn't a machine either and definitely not like Sari. The girl was in a category all her own. This made her dangerous.

But how had she become like that? What was the cause? He didn't know and it bothered him.

They all had to find out. It was the best thing to do and if she was something they could not handle... well maybe it would be best if she didn't exist at all.

_Prowl! How can you even think like that!?_

He had no answer. He wasn't sure why he was thinking such things either. It bothered him but he didn't try to push the thoughts out of his mind.

* * *

Lase searched ever part of the bedroom for the key. She knew it had to be in there somewhere but she could not in point the exact location. That girl could have stashed it anywhere.

She pulled a book off the shelf and riffled through it before putting it back. She repeated the process with every book on the shelf then moved on. Starscream was obviously feeling impatient about the process. _"Why are you taking your time with everything?" _he demanded. _"Hurry up before someone comes!"_

Lase rolled her eyes, choosing not to retort. She turned from the shelf and headed over to the girl's bed. She grabbed up the pillow and looked under it.

_"Yeah, like she'd be dumb enough to stash it there," _he stated.

"I was just checking every possible place," she informed him setting the pillow down and moving to the night stand. "Who knows. She really could have been dumb enough for that."

_"Or you're dumb enough to do it and you won't admit it."_

The woman was starting to get tired of his verbal abuse. "Hey, don't blame me," she snapped, grabbing the drawer handle. "I'm just doing what you want me to do."  
_"And being an airhead about it."  
_"I am _not_ an airhead!" she shouted, roughly jerking on the handle. The draw flew open and fell out of it's slot, spilling the contects all over the floor. "Shoot!"

_"Now look what you did," _Starscream reprimanded as she got down to clean up the mess. "_You can't even open a drawer right! You're useless."_

"Shut up," she growled, picking up pieces of paper and a few pencils and placing them back in the drawer. "It never would have happened if you hadn't been on my case."

"_Don't blame me for your clumsiness," _he retorted. In her minds eye she could see him folding his arms and smirking. _"You should have been paying better attention."_

"I wouldn't have had a hard time paying attention, oh wise one, if you hadn't been distracting me with your big mouth!"

The implants started hurting again. She went rigid, gasping in pain. _"If I were you, I'd watch me mouth," _his voice hissed in her ear. _"Especially when the one you're speaking to has something to keep you in line."_

There it was. That little reminder. She was not her own person anymore. No, she belonged to someone else. "I'm sorry," she said.

The pain went away and she could breathe normally. She sighed in relief and rested her hand on the floor. Her hand rested on something cold and metallic. "Huh?

She closed her fingers around it, feeling bumps. She raised the object to her eyes and opened her hand so she could get a better look at it.

A key.

Wait? _The_ key?

Starscream seemed to think so. She could feel his talons dig into her shoulders as he leaned over her, or at least she imagined he did since she couldn't see him. _"That's it!" _he exclaimed in an excited voice. _"That is exactly what I am looking for!"_

"This?" Lase studied the key in her hand. It didn't look like much. It looked like a key that could be used to open something like a door to a warehouse or be put into a computer flashdrive. She didn't understand why he was so excited about it. It didn't see to ahve any special qualities. "What's so great about it? It's just a key."

_"__**Just**__ a key?!" _he exclaimed, sounding like he could not believe what she was saying. _"That is __**more**__ than just a key!"_

"Really?" her voice was loaded with sarcasm.

_"Of course. I wouldn't want a key that was useless. I'd want-"_

Just then Lase heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. Starscream must have heard it to because he gripped her shoulders more tightly. _"I think we're about to have company," _he stated. _"Why don't we move before they see us?"_

He didn't have to tell her twice. The woman rose to her feet and, gripping the key tightly in her hand, dashed toward the door, her bare feet making no sound on the thick carpet.

Just as she stepped into the hall a voice shouted. "Hold it right there!"

She turned her head just in time to see a blue orb of energy come flying at her face.

* * *

Eventually Prowl and Optimus ran into each other again. They both transformed at the same time and asked each other questions about what had happened since they last saw each other. Optimus news was much more interesting than Prowl's.

"You mean you actually found Starscream's body after all?" the cyber ninja asked, blinking his optics behind the blue visor covering them.

Optimus nodded. "Bulkhead found it in a warehouse.," he explained. "It looked like it had been there for quite awhile."

Well at least that was one good thing. They didn't have to worry about it anymore then. "What do you plan on doing with it?"

"Nothing right now," he replied. "We're hoping that whoever took it will comer back," Optimus rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Something tells me that whoever did it is the same person who is responsible for Nina."

"How can you be sure?"

The Prime shrugged. "I can't," he replied. "It's just a hunch right now, but if it proves to be right, then we'll have two things we can take care of at once."

"But first we have to find the girl," Prowl told him. "Before-"

"Hmm?" Optimus looked at him searchingly. "Before what?"

The other Autobot shook his head. "Never mind," he said. "Let's just keep looking."

Then he transformed and shot down the street before Optimus could say anything else.

Optimus watched him go, wondering what that was all about. _Does he know something?_

* * *

Now that Nina knew what everything was for, she finished getting dressed, leaving his discarded clothes on the floor. Before she headed out into the living-room she stood in front of the full length mirror attached to the back of the closed door, scrutinizing herself. The outfit wasn't really much anyway, just a haphazard scattering of clothes, a long blue shirt that was two sizes two big, a short gray mini-skirt, and a pair of thigh length socks. Nina had to wonder why the woman would even have a mini skirt that small or socks that high.

_Does she visualize herself as a street walker or something? _the girl asked herself, then wondered how she even knew what a street walker was.

Well she didn't have time to think about it now. There were other things she needed to do. Turning away from the mirror she headed back to the living-room, aware that a loud banging noise was coming from the kitchen unit. _What is that woman doing now?_

Just then there was an alarming noise, somewhere between a scream and a yell, followed by a curse. It sounded like Petra was either in trouble, or perhaps she hurt herself.

Nina ran toward the sound, wondering what had happened.

Inside the kitchen, Petra was making hissing sounds through her teeth. She seemed to be doing a little dance, hopping up and down on one foot while she held her other foot between her hands. She also uttered an "Ow, ow, ow!" every couple of seconds.

"What's wrong?" Nina asked.

Petra stopped moving forward and proceeded to continue to hop up and down in place. "I was trying to boil some water and then I spilled it on my foot!" she exclaimed, her words a bit punctuated by her jerky movements. "ALL I WANTED WAS SOME HOT CHOCOLATE BEFORE WE LEAVE!" she whined.

"Oh."

After a few moments, Petra finally stopped hopping and she sat down on the floor, just long enough to check her foot. "Okay, doesn't look too bad," she finally commented, then put her shoe back on.

"So is that everything then?" Nina leaned against the door jam, her arms crossed over her chest.

Petra glanced up at the girl, frowning a little. "What do you mean?" she asked, obviously distracted by fastening her high-heeled shoe in place, as well as straightening out her sock.

"Is that the only reason you were screaming bloody murder?" she asked, raising her hand which started to glow red. "I thought it was something else."

"Well, it hurt!" Petra said in a mildly pitiful tone. Then she reached up and grabbed onto the edge of the counter, pulling herself up. She was completely oblivious to Nina's glowing hand. "I don't like to be burned," she added after a moment.

The girl shrugged. "Whatever." she glanced out the window. It was getting dark. "I don't think your friend is coming."

The older woman brushed herself off thoroughly. She then glanced down at the floor. "Good heavens, I really need to clean this place sometime!" she commented. Then she shrugged. "Then again, I was never very good at cleaning."

Just then, it registered in Petra's brain that Nina had spoken. She looked at the girl. "Um, sorry did you say something?"

"I don't think your friend is coming," she said. "If he was he would have been here by now." she pushed away from the wall and grabbed onto the string, pulling down the shade. "Since he's not coming..." her voice trailed off. Why did she want to see this person anyway? She had no idea who it was. For all she knew it could be one of those people who put her in that awful tank.

She hugged herself, the horrible memory coming back to her. Confined spaces.

"Oh! I almost forgot all about him," Petra said, snapping back to full awareness. "Look, he's probably going to be here sooner or later. He probably got held up or something. Come on, we should go!"

With that, she began to head toward the front door.

Nina was already one step ahead. She brushed past the woman, getting outside first. The apartment suddenly felt more like a trap than a haven.

Petra stepped out immediately after the girl, inhaling deeply as the fresh, evening air washed over her. She smiled contentedly. "You know," she said, "I think tonight is the perfect night for a walk!"

"A walk?" Nina stared at Petra with wide eyes. "Why do you want to go for a walk at a time like this?" she glanced down the darkening street. "It's too dark. Who knows what could be out there waiting..." an image of the Autobots came to mind. She did not want to encounter then again, even if Prowl had saved her life.

"Oh come on, we'll be fine!" Petra said giddily. "Besides; well" She shrugged a little. "There is another good reason why we should go for a walk." She then stepped away from the door, moving down the steps, her body language indicating that the girl could either follow or stay behind.

Nina hesitated. What did she mean by that? What was this woman planning? She didn't know but part of her said she should find out. So, against the logical side of her mind telling her not to, she followed.

* * *

Lase ducked to avoid being hit by the flying projectile. It hit the door instead, exploding on contact and sending a shower of sparks raining down.

Sari threw her hand back and chucked another orb at the woman. The blond lady dived out of the way then dashed down the hall, clutching the key in a death grip.

"She's getting away," Sari exclaimed. She grabbed Bumblebee's hand and pulled him down the hall. "Come on, Bumblebe! We have to keep her from getting away!"

Bumblebee followed but something told him this whole thing was a bad idea.

* * *

_"Why are you running away from them?!" _Starscream's voice screamed into her mind. She could tell by his voice that he was angry and unhappy that she had taken off instead of fighting. _"They were weakling Autobots!"_

"Well _I'm _a weakling human!" she pointed out testily as she headed down the hall to the elevator. "If you think I'm going to go up against two powerful machines you got another thing coming."

_"I would have done it for you." _he stated.

Lase could feel her hands burning. He'd been planning on using her for a weapon again. "It's better just to run," she said quickly. "Because we have what we came for."

That seemed to shut him up. She had a point. They did have what he wanted which meant there was no reason to hang around anymore.

_"Yes, you are correct," _he consented. _"Good. Then let us be moving."_

Lase rolled her eyes and slammed into the crash bar of the fire escape stairs. She didn't have time to wait for the elevator. The woman dashed down the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the cold, metal planks.

_A/N_

_I think I might need to read over some of the chapters. I'm kind of not sure what is going on anymore. _


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Sari and Bumblebee had lost their quarry. They had actually kept her in their sights for a good amount of time but then she'd turned a corner and seemed to vanish completely, almost as if she was able to cloak herself.

"Rats where did she go?" Sari asked herself out loud as she looked around the hall.

"I don't know," Bumblebee said. "Maybe she took the elevator."

"No that thing takes a long time to get up this high," Sari stated. "If she'd decided to take it we would have seen her."

"Oh well then... I don't know.."

Sari didn't respond to that. She just frowned an looked around herself again. There had to be some way to explain how Lase had vanished so completely. Just then she heard the door to the fire escape slam shut with a heavy thump. "There!" she shouted, running toward it. "She took the emergency stairs."

Bee let her go. He was too tired to chase after her. If Sari wanted to catch the woman she'd be doing it by herself.

The girl didn't even notice she was alone as she burst into the stairway. She looked downward and spotted the woman dashing down the stairs. "Oh no, you're not getting away from me that easily," she said, giving chase. "Not with my key."

* * *

Lase heard the sound of footsteps thumping on the stairs above her. She paused for a moment and lifted her head just in time to see Sari's orange and yellow dress flash by.

_"Shes following us!" _Starscream's voice hissed in her ear, as he gripped her shoulders painfully.. _"This is __**your **__fault!"_

"It's not my fault," she snapped, dashing down the stairs. "The elevator would have taken too long, you stupid robot!"

_"Don't call me stupid!"_

"Don't you dare punish me right now," she growled when she felt those implants beginning to burn. "Unless you want your vessel to fall down the stairs and die. How would you like that? You're a ghost, you can't exactly pick up objects and stuff by yourself."

Starscream did not comment but she did feel the pain subside which meant he realized she was right. She smiled to herself, proud of her accomplishment, and jumped down to another landing, her bare feet hitting the metal floor with a bang. Above she heard the girl pick up the pace.

She realized she wouldn't be escaping that girl at this rate. She noticed a door at the next level and got an idea. She lunged at the door and burst into the hall, dashing past offices full of busy lab workers. Nobody even noticed the blond woman in the slip dash by and if they did they didn't act as if it bothered them to see such a scantily clad person rushing down the halls. Or if they were they were too busy trying not to burn themselves on the molten metal, that they couldn't go after her.

* * *

Meanwhile in on the stairs Sari paused a moment to listen for the woman's clanging footsteps. She heard nothing. The stairwell had suddenly grown silent.

"What?"

The girl jumped down the stairs and crashed onto a landing, losing her footing and hurdling down a flight of stairs until she banged into the railing on the next landing down. "Ow!" she moaned, rubbing the back of her head. "That hurt."

"Sari?" Bumblebee's voice in her commlink startled her. She put her fingers to the side of her head. "Yeah?" she groaned.

"Did you catch her?"

"No!" she snapped, pushing herself up. "I did _not_ get her. She disappeared."

Bumblebee's voice was full of disbelief. "What!?" it was obvious he couldn't believe what she was saying. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know," she replied, getting to her feet. Her back whined at her and she groaned, reaching back to rub it. "Oh, my back."

Bee heard that. "Sari, are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Nothing a good back massage can't cure." she listened for a moment, once again trying to pick up the sound of the woman's footsteps.

But there was nothing. She was gone.

"Rats," she grumbled. "How could she get away from me so easily?"

She sighed and headed down the stairs to the next landing. "Perfect, just perfect," she moaned. "I lost her and she's got my key!"

* * *

Lase stumbled into an unused room and tripped over her own feet, falling heavily to the floor. She bashed her knees against a waste basket and cried out it pain the second before she hit the floor on her stomach. For a moment she just lay there, catching her breath then a slight tweak of pain from Starscream squeezing her shoulders made her sit back up.

_"You sure are clumsy," _he stated.

Lase chose to ignore him, instead focusing her attention on the key clutched in her hand. She'd been gripping it so tight the prongs had dug into her skin, making it bleed. Until then she hadn't felt anything. She clenched her teeth together and loosened her grip on it, allowing the key to fall onto the floor with a faint, plink.

_"At least you didn't drop the key. You're not totally useless."_

"Do you always have to leave some kind of snide comment about me?" she demanded, getting up off the floor. Her knee protested and she looked down at it. The skin was already changing to a black and blue color.

Lase cursed and rubbed the spot but that only made it hurt worse so she stopped and focused her attention on the contents of the room.

The room had shelves on the far left wall covered in small machines that didn't seem to be working at the moment. She walked over to the wall and picked up one of the machines, studying it intently before turning away a few seconds later and letting her dark green eyes roam over the rest of the place. Each of the other walls also had shelves but they didn't contain robots. Mostly they held books or office equipment. One had a phone a printer sitting on them. Below the shelf on the back wall was a poster of the tower but that didn't hold her interest. What did was the closet next to it. She moved toward it, stepping around the desk in the center of the room.

She grabbed the door handle and opened it. It was full of lab coats. She smiled. Perfect.

_"What are you doing?" _Starscream demanded as she began to rummage around in the closet. _"We don't have time for your little fashion emergency."_

The woman ignored him and continued to search the closet until she found one that looked just the right size. Still smiling, she pulled it out and put it on, the coat covering most of her white slipped body. She sighed with relief. She felt much more decent now. "This is so much more comfortable."

_"Oh hurray, you found some clothes," _the Deceptiocn said sarcastically. _"Now that you're finished playing dress up, I would suggest we leave and head back to the hanger. Some of us want to have our bodies back you know."_

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. She turned away from the closet and headed back toward the door. This time she would use the elevator.

* * *

_She had to be here somewhere, _Prowl thought as he drove through the city. _There's no way she could have left it. Unless of course she can turn into a vehicle which I doubt. But still.._

The cyber ninja was so lost in thought he didn't notice the people until he'd driven by them. Once he realized what he saw he slammed on the breaks and turned around, shooting back toward the two women.

Nina saw the motorcycle coming but Petra obviously didn't. She walked right out into the middle of the street, still talking about something. The girl moved to stop her, rushing toward the woman and grabbing her arm and pulling her back before she was run over.

Petra let out a startled yelp as Nina yanked back on her. Her train of thought had been broken and she immediately forgot what she was babbling about. Her mind then snapped to full awareness, registering two things.

One was that Nina was a lot stronger than she looked, and a lot stronger than a teenage girl of her size and weight should have been. Then again, that simply added up with everything else Petra knew about her; she was a very un-human human, probably more robot than anything else.

The second thing that Petra noticed was the black and gold motorcycle, complete with a sidecar, yet completely without a driver. She blinked, then hastily grabbed Nina by the arm. "Come on, I think we should keep going!"

For a moment Nina didn't move. She was riveted to the spot, her eyes focused the bike. It looked familiar... when the bike backed up and moved toward them, recognition set in. "It's him!" she exclaimed.

Petra's eyes widened. She knew all about the Autobots, and now she knew that apparently Nina knew them as well. Or at least she knew of them. Petra could see something in Nina's eyes, was it just recognition, or was it fear as well? Shaking her head, Petra turned back toward the motorcycle as it drew nearer. If that Autobot was thinking about taking Nina away, it was NOT going to happen!

"Nina, RUN!" Petra shouted, then she let out an ear-piercing shriek and, throwing her arms into the air she jumped forward, kicking off of the edge of the sidewalk and straight toward the motorcycle.

Prowl saw the woman coming and, not wanting to hit her, swerved to the side to avoid colliding with the oncoming human. When he did this he lost control and slammed into a group of garbage cans.

That was when Petra lost her focus and lost her balance as well. She ended up falling flat on her face, right in the middle of the pavement. "Ow," she moaned, pushing herself up and rubbing her forehead. She then looked around, to see if Nina was still there or not.

The girl wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were focused on the motorcycle that began to move under the pile of cans. A few seconds later it burst out of them but it wasn't a vehicle any longer. It was a giant gold and black robot.

"Nina," Petra hissed, staggering to her feet and marching toward the girl. "Run! Go back to my place!" She grabbed the teen s shoulder and gave it a gentle but firm shake, trying to get her attention. "I'll deal with that thing!"

Nina hesitated. "Are you nuts?" she demanded. "That thing is a giant robot! It will kill you!"

Petra threw her head back and laughed. "I'll just keep him distracted!" With that she turned away from Nina and marched straight toward the large robot.

The girl paused for only a moment then she turned and took off back the way they came.

Petra Black moved right up to him, clenching her fists at her sides, and then slammed her fists against his leg. "Go away!" she barked at him, then quickly withdrew her hands, wincing. "Owwwwww." She shook one of her hands as if trying to shake off the pain while she put part of her other hand in her mouth, sucking on it.

Prowl stared down at her, not sure what to think. Did this human just hit him? He hadn't felt a thing, but it was obvious she had. He gave her a concerned look.

The woman made a few hissing noises and then decided to ignore the pain. She then glared up at the towering robot. "Go on, get out of here!" she then yelled, waving her arms over her head. It looked almost comical.

Prowl still didn't move. He was trying to figure out what exactly she was doing. The cyber ninja cocked his head and studied her. She looked familiar somehow, but he wasn't sure why. had they met before or maybe he'd just seen her picture on TV.

Growing annoyed, Petra growled and then she placed her hands on the robot's leg, attempting to push with all her might. She dug her shoes into the ground, attempting to use her feet as leverage to shove the large black leg. However it wouldn't even budge, and she only found herself scraping her feet across the ground. She grunted and huffed a few times, but he just wouldn't move.

"Are you all right?" Prowl finally asked. "You'd better be careful. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Petra's breath whooshed out of her lungs like a pair of deflating balloons, and she slid down against his leg, sitting on his foot. She was exhausted from the effort. "Oh shut up," she mumbled, using her sleeve to wipe some perspiration off her forehead.

Prowl watched her, not sure how to react. He waited a moment, wanting to see what she would do next. This was rather... interesting.

After a few moments she caught her breath and then she pushed herself away from his foot. She then glared up at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, are you going to do or say anything, or just STAND there?" she demanded, tapping her foot.

"What did you think you could accomplish by hitting me?" he asked her. "Surely you knew you would only hurt yourself."

"Well I'm not letting you take the girl. I've been teaching her and looking after her for this long. I will NOT allow you or anyone else to do so much as put a finger on her!" Petra's scowled deepened, and she wagged her finger in the air as if she were scolding an over-sized puppy.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Prowl replied, stepping back then kneeling down so he could be at the woman's level. "I just want to find her before something bad happens to her."

"Yeah well you'll have to get past me first!" Petra folded her arms across her chest, staring into his visor with knitted eyebrows. "She's MINE. That's all there is to it."

"She's yours?" he asked. "Last time I checked human history, slavery was banned in this country, unless you mean something more intimate by that statement."

Petra frowned. She thought about it for a moment. Why did she say that anyway? What had she meant by it? All she knew was that she felt protective toward the girl, not wanting Fowl or this robot or anyone else to get anywhere near her. Maybe, somehow or other, on a subconscious level, Nina was like the daughter she'd never had?

That seemed like a pretty ridiculous thought. Then again somehow it also seemed plausible.

She felt tears welling up in her eyes at this realization. But she did not let them fall; she didn't want to talk about this with a big alien robot. So instead she decided to change the subject. She suddenly grinned and then pointed at his face. "Does that come off?" She reached for his visor, making a grab for it.

Prowl jerked back. Nobody ever took off his visor, not even himself unless he was alone, and for good reason. He stood up, putting eighteen feet of distance between Petra and his visor. "Whether is comes off or not isn't really important right now," he stated in a flat voice.

"Oh," She frowned, then glanced around. She didn't see Nina anywhere at all, which meant that the girl had taken off. Good. She then grinned up at Prowl and made a clumsy gesture somewhere between a salute and a wave. "Well, I need to be going then. Goodbye!" She then turned on her heel and started to walk away, in the opposite direction from her home. She hoped that Nina had gone there, and just in case she had, Petra wanted to make Prowl think she was going somewhere else until she was sure she'd lost him.

"Hold it." he ordered before she'd even taken three steps.

Petra hesitated a moment, then she folded her hands behind her back and slowly moved forward, whistling an off-key tune.

Prowl wasn't going to let her get away that easily. Reaching down he grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her off the ground. "You're going to find her now, aren't you?"

"HEY!" Petra exclaimed indignantly. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Not until you answer my question," he said. "Now answer me. Are you going to find her?"

Petra's eyes darted around, then she stared at the ground as if judging the distance between her and it. "I'm not saying," she finally said, still staring downward. She was contemplating an idea of escape.

Prowl frowned. This was going to be harder than he thought. "If you are, I'm coming with you," he replied. "We can't let anything happen to her."

"No you're not!" Petra then giggled and straightened her arms, allowing herself to slip right out of her shirt.

Prowl was obviously expecting this because he put his other hand under her and caught her in it, closing his fingers around her body.

Squeaking in surprise, Petra then tried one more tactic. "ACK!" She gasped and then wheezed dramatically. "You're crushing me!" She panted in an exaggerated fashion.

"I'm barely grasping you," he told her.

"You idiot!" she gasped out. "You don't even know your own strength! PUT ME DOWN!" She then purposely went limp in his hand, allowing her head to dangle.

The cyber ninja stared at her, feeling a twinge of guilt. Was he really holding onto her that tightly?

She remained quite still and forced herself to stop breathing. As she held her breath and kept her eyes closed, she hoped he would let her go.

The Autobot dropped her into his open hand then gave her a poke to see if she would move. "I can't have killed her," he said, sounding worried. "Captain Fanzone never fainted when I held him..."

Petra tried to keep still, although she allowed herself to begin breathing again and then she found herself snickering. Oops.

"I knew it."

She made a pouty face. _DAMNIT!_ She thought.

"Now," Prowl said gently closing his hand around her body. "Why don't we go looking for the girl together? I'm sure we both have the same thing in mind anyway."

"I'm not gonna tell you where she is!" Petra spat. "Why are you so interested in her anyway?"

Prowl didn't answer.

Petra scowled. "Don't tell me you're a robot pervert." Her face twisted in disgust.

"What is a pervert?" he asked. "That makes no sense."

"You know, someone who stalks young girls. I KNOW that that girl is partly robot, probably some sort of lab rat experimentation. But since you're a robot too, what, do you want to plug into her? That would be a waste of time, you know. She doesn't even know about the birds and the bees." Petra smirked.

"Plug in-" If Prowl had been able to blush he would have. "No! I don't want to interface with her! I wish to protect her. I can't let anything bad happen to her. If we don't-" he cut himself off. Why was he explaining all of this to _Petra_? It wasn't her business. "Never mind that. Just tell me where she is."

"No," Petra said. Then she quickly added, "Not until I get something to eat first. I haven't eaten in a while." It was as good an excuse as any. And maybe she could find a way to lose him if he did allow her to get something to eat. It was obvious he wasn't going to let her go if she just asked nicely.

"You can eat later," he said, starting to walk. "First we must find the girl."

"But I'm _starving_!"

"Humans can go a week without eating," he stated matter-of-factly. "Now, unless you have not eaten in days that statement is false and you are lying."

Petra remained silent for a moment. She'd already deduced that not much got past this robot. He seemed to have a built-in BS detector or something. She sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you where she is," she said slowly, her mind already working.

Now he was getting somewhere. "Show me."

She grinned. "You'll have to put me down first."

"No I don't think so," he replied. "How can I be sure you won't run off when I do?"

Her face fell. "Fine," she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Well, to find her, we have to go to the park." She grinned again. It was the same story she'd told Fowl. Hopefully the robot would buy it.

"Funny, I did not see her run off in that direction before you started assaulting my foot."

"Oh she is going there," Petra insisted. "I just told her to run, so she was just trying to get away from you. But we have a rendezvous point where we agreed to meet in the park in case we ever got separated," she lied.

The cyber ninja gave her a look. Something told him she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes again. But he had no way of proving it unless he went there. "All right," he said. "If that's where she's going then we'll go there."

She beamed. "We must meet her underneath a big pine tree in the middle of the park," she told him.

"I have been to the park many times," he responded giving her a look. "It has no big pine trees in its center."

Her face faltered although she somehow managed to keep the grin in place. "Yes there is!" she persisted. "Maybe you just haven't seen it."

"If I have not seen it it is not there," he stated. "This tells me you are lying about your rendezvous point."

"Humph!" If Petra had been able to move her arms she would have folded them across her chest. Instead she resorted to turning her face away in a stubborn gesture. "Well, I'm not going to say a word. You can hold me for as long as you want, but I'm not gonna say anything."

Suddenly she looked up at him with an impish expression forming on her face. "What if we make a bet? Let's just see who's got more willpower here, if that's how you want to be. If I stay silent until you get sick of holding me, you let me go. Or if I get sick of waiting for you to put me down, I tell you the truth. What do you say to THAT?"

"I say she went back to your house."

Petra blinked. "She did not!" she said defensively.

Prowl ignored her and headed down the street toward the woman's apartment. "For one thing the girl does not know where the park is located," he stated. "For another you seem familiar with the area which tells me that you and her came from somewhere close by. That means I am right and you are mistaken."

The woman stared up at him for a moment. Then she did the only thing she could think of to try and stop him or at least to try and free herself. "POLICE!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "SOMEBODY HELP ME! I'M BEING HELD CAPTIVE! HELP!!"

_A/N_

_XD Oh the fun we're having. _


	18. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Nina didn't go back to Petra's house. She charged right past the place, her mind focused soley on escaping. As she ran she asked herself why she even bothered staying with the woman this long. It seemed wise at the time but now she realized it only gave her pursuers time to catch up with her.

_Why? Why? Why was I so stupid?! _

She crossed the street without even bothering to look both ways. A car blared its horn at her and swerved to avoid hitting her. She heard it collide with a mail box but didn't stop to see if the driver was all right. She needed to escape and escape she would. She didn't have time to worry about anyone else.

She kept running until she was out of breath and had to stop or she would collapse. She slowed to a stop, nearly tripping over her own feet. The girl leaned over and panted heavily, trying to catch her breath. Once she was breathing normally again she lifted her head and looked around, trying to get her bearings.

She had no idea where she was. "Crap," she grumbled, sitting down on the pavement and resting her elbows on her knees. "I'm lost again."

A street light came on, illuminating her figure. She closed her eyes to shut out the light because it hurt them. "What am I going to do now?" she asked herself. "That woman, crazy as she may be, was the only stable thing I had." she sighed and pulled her legs close to her chest. "I never should have panicked and left that kid's house. He was only trying to help me too but I can't let the police find me either. If they do I might wind up in the same place I started."

Flashes of the lab passed through her mind. She shook her head, trying to send them away. She didn't want to think about it anymore. It was too terrible.

"Well I'm _not_ going back," she told herself, clenching her fists in determination. "I can't go back to that. If I do whoever did those things to me will only do them again." she opened her hands and stared at them, thinking of the power lurking under that facade of skin. "What they haven't done already..."

A large blue and red fire truck passed by but she didn't notice. It drove a little further down the street then stopped. She heard it put on the break and lifted her head, turning it toward the sound. Now she saw the vehicle back up a little then change shape. Within seconds a giant robot stood in it's place.

For a moment she didn't react but when she saw the red symbol on it's left arm she panicked.

Quickly Nina got to her feet and started to move away as fast as she could. A large hand blocked her path. "Wait," a voice she knew ordered.

She looked back at the robot with fearful eyes. "What do you want with me?" she demanded, closing her hands into fists. "Can't you freaks just leave me alone?"

The blue and red robot frowned at her. "We're just trying to help you," he said.

She laughed, a bitter sound. "Help me?" she asked. "After you _killed_ me?"

"I don't know where you're getting this idea," he said. "But me and my friends have never killed a human We protect them."

"Really?" she asked, a note of sarcasm in her voice. "If that is true how come I can remember your black and gold friend doing it to me?"

"I don't know where you got a memory like that," the robot went on. "But Prowl cares the most about humans and organics than any of us. He would _never _do such a thing."

"But he did!" she insisted. "He did it to me and he knows it!"

"If that is true," he said. "Why are you still alive?"

Nina had no answer. She looked back down at her hands. "If he didn't do that to me," she said. "How come it's the only thing I can remember clearly? How come whenever I see him my mind replays that scene over and over?" she closed her fists. "Maybe he did kill me, and maybe whoever did this to me brought me back, I don't know." Her eyes felt hot and she had to close them. "I don't know anything."

She felt the robot gently lay his hand on her. Startled she looked up at him. His face didn't hold any kind of malice. "That's what we want to find out too," he told her. "If you let us try maybe we can all find the answers we want."

"You really believe that?" she asked him, suspicion in her voice.

He heard the tone but nodded anyway. "Yes, yes I do."

Well the girl had no way of responding to that. Half of her wanted to trust him while the other half wanted to shoot energy blasts at him and run away. She was having a hard time making up her mind on what she wanted to do.

_If he wanted to kill you he would have done it already. _ the voice of reason said.

_But what if he's just biding his time? _

_Don't be silly, _it insisted.

_Well he could have an alterior motive._

_If he did you probably wouldn't be standing here, discussing it now would you?_

_I guess so._

The robot was waiting for her answer.

She looked back up at him and sighed. "All right," she said. "If you're really telling the truth about this, prove it, and if you can't you're going to wish you never talked to me."

The robot smiled. "I think I can live with that." then he changed back into robot mode right before her astonished eyes. The passenger side door opened. "Climb in."

She hesitated, looking back the way she came, part of her worried that if she did she'd never see Petra again. But the other part wanted to trust this robot. She nodded. "All right."

Then, without another moment's hesitation, she climbed in.

* * *

Starscream felt totally proud of himself. He'd finally managed to get what he wanted with the cooperation of a simple minded flesh creature. He felt himself smiling at his accomplishment. Oh yes, it had been delightful. This woman was so easy to manipulate, even if she was stubborn.

But of course that was a minor irritation he would deal with the moment he had his own body back. After all it wasn't like he needed her for anything else besides a little puppet who ran errands for him. Humans were disgusting after all and he had no intention of having anything else to do with her after he got his body back. In fact he might as well just step on her and end her boring little life. He'd be doing her a favor if he did. It wasn't like things would get any better for her later on anyway.

The bell in the elevator rang, letting him and the woman know that they'd reached the first floor. A moment later the doors slid effortlessly open and Lase stepped out into the lobby. She paused a moment, looking around, as if expecting to see the techno organic girl and her robot friend appear and start shooting at her.

When she saw nothing she sighed in relief and headed toward the exit, the All Spark key resting snugly in her lab coat pocket. She was feeling a little better now that she'd done what the Decepticon wanted and she'd finally managed to cover most of her wounds with the coat. She had almost reached the door when a voice called out. "Hold it right there!"

She paused much to Starscream's irritation, and turned slightly to face the speaker.

It was that girl again. She was coming toward them both with purpose driven steps, her hands glowing a light blue. "You're not going _anywhere_," she growled.

_"Oh sparks, it's that annoying techno organic again," _Starscream growled, his ghostly hands gripping Lase's shoulders painfully. _"Just what I don't need right now. Frag it, I'm taking care of her right now."_

Lase took a few backward steps toward the door. "No," she protested. "Don't make me do this." she felt her hands growing hot. "I don't want to fight her."

_"You're __**not **__fighting her," _he replied, mentally manipulating her hands. _"__**I**__ am!"_

Suddenly two bolts of red hot energy shot out of the woman's hands and right at Sari. The girl moved to the side, instantly activating the blades in her hands. She charged the woman. Lase flinched back but Starscream made her shoot at the girl again who easily dodged the bolts and kept coming.

"No, she's going to kill me!" the woman insisted, her eyes wide in terror.

_"You're such a pathetic fleshing," _Starscream sneered. _"Don't you realize you have the great Starscream fighting for you?"_

Then he raised her arms again and shot another bolt of energy.

This time his aim was true and the girl got it right in the chest. She grunted in pain as she was shot across the room and into the back wall. The girl bounced off of it and hit the floor.

Starscream forced Lase to walk toward her. _"Time to deal with this little freak for good," _he said as the woman's hands glowed hotly.

"No," the woman protested, trying to regain control of her body. "Don't make me kill her!"

_"You're not killing her, my dear little flesh bag," _he said. _"I'm doing the killing. You're body just happens to be the tool I'm using to do it."_

"But it's still me," she insisted, vainly attempting to close her hands into fists to stop him. "and I don't want to-"

_"Shut your mouth!" _Starscream ordered suddenly. _"You don't have a choice, flesh creature! I'm calling the shot here!" _

"But not... with my... body!" she growled.

Sari was getting up. She raised herself on her hands and knees and glared over at the oncoming woman. That's when she noticed the conflicted look on the woman's face, as if she was having some kind of internal battle. The techno organic girl stared at her, not sure what to think of that. Why did she look that way? What was wrong with her?

"Stay back!" Sari ordered, raising her hand which began to glow. "Or I'll take off your head."

"I'm sorry," Lase said as the glow in her hands grew brighter. "But I don't have a choice."

For a brief instant Sari caught a glimpse of a white ethereal being floating behind the woman. It looked exactly like the image in the security camera. Sari's eyes widened when it seemed to look right at her. Instantly she knew who it was and a chill ran down her spine. "No..."

Before Lase and her manipulator could kill her though a yellow bolt of electricity shot at them and hit the woman in the chest, knocking her back against the wall. Sari stared at her a moment then turned her head. Standing a few feet away, near the elevators, his hands transformers into stringers stood Bumblebee. He looked terrified.

"Bee!" Sari explained, staring at him.

His hands returned to normal. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sari," he apologized. "The elevator was slow." he walked toward her, keeping a sharp optic on Lase. "Looks like I got here just in time."

Sari nodded and got to her feet. "She was going to kill me," the girl stated.

Bee stared at her. "Really?" he asked.

She nodded. "But..." she paused. "But I don't think she wanted to."

"What do you mean?" he questioned. "If she was going to kill you it meant she wanted to."

"No, that's not what I mean," she corrected, looking at Lase who hadn't moved an inch since she was shot. "She said she didn't have a choice."

"I think she did have a choice."

"No, I don't think she did."

"How do you know?"

"Something I saw," she replied, rubbing her arms because she suddenly felt cold. "It-it looked like she was being manipulated by something."

* * *

Fowl parked his car outside of Petra's Black's apartment a half hour after she and Nina had gone out for a walk. He groaned to himself, cursing his rotten luck, his right hand covering the black eye he'd received from the guerrilla he's unintentionally ticked off.

"Blasted humans and their tempers," he growled, resting his back against the car. "I can't wait to eradicate them all."

The scientist turned his head toward Petra's apartment. The first thing he noticed was that the lights in her living space were out. He glanced at his watch. It was only 8 pm. Either she'd gone to sleep early or the lunatic was out somewhere, probably driving some poor, unsuspecting shmuck up the wall with her fantasies. He sighed, once against asking himself why he even bothered to get her involved. It just seemed as if she was making things more complicated than they should be.

_Blasted woman, _he thought, walking toward the building. _Why can't she ever stay in one place long enough for me to get her? Why does she always have to make things more complicated than they should be? _

He had nearly reached the landing when he heard a blood curdling scream coming from further down the street. He paused a moment, listening. "That's Petra," he said before taking off down the street. "What is that fool woman doing now?"

Petra, still being held in Prowl's gentle but secure grasp, was still screaming at the top of her lungs. But for the most part the streets were empty, except for an occasional car or passerby. She received a few stares from some people, but otherwise they seemed to ignore her.

Finally, she fell silent. Her throat hurt, her lungs hurt, and she was making her own ears hurt. She then glanced up at the giant robot who was carrying her. _Well_, she thought, _of course no one would pay attention to my screams for help, everybody thinks the Autobots are awesome heroes! Either that or they just don't want to get involved. Stupid people!_

She was surprised that Prowl hadn't really said much, though. Had he muted his hearing or something? She squirmed around a little in his hand, trying to get his attention.

"What?" the Autobot asked, looking down at her.

Petra scowled at him. "You're not going to get away with this!" she exclaimed. Then she spit on his finger, the one closest to her face.

Prowl gave her a look, as if he wasn't happy that she was spitting on him. "Do you mind acting your age?" he asked, in a slightly irritated voice. "You're a grown woman. Spitting is for children. As for me getting anyway with anything I don't know what you mean and I'm not sure I care."

Suddenly she smirked, giving him a mischievous look. "You're just lucky I haven't eaten anything Mexican today," she told him. "That stuff really messes with my intestines, and then, BOY I could really smell up your hand if I had eaten some of that." She snickered. "I always drove my parents and my brother nuts with that habit of mine when I was a kid. That and burping. Ohh yes, I could really cut them loose in public places," She continued to ramble.

Prowl shut off his audio units, not wanting to hear anymore of this woman's habits or her flatulating digestive tract.

Petra continued to ramble on, never noticing that the Autobot was not listening anymore. Prowl simply kept on walking alongside the street. When they came near Petra's house, the woman stopped babbling and glanced toward it sharply. Part of her hoped that Prowl wouldn't realize it was her house and keep on walking. But then she noticed that there was a car parked outside of it, along with a familiar figure.

"Oh my, it's Fowl!" she exclaimed, craning her neck to look toward him. "FOWL!!!" she screamed. "HELP ME! I'M BEING HELD CAPTIVE HERE!"

Fowl stood on the sidewalk, his eyes locked on Prowl, his mouth hanging open. This was the first time he'd ever seen one of those robots up close. He wasn't sure how he should react. part of him was scared to death of this monstrous machine while the other half felt irritated.

"FOWL!!" Petra screamed even louder. She attempted to flop and squirm around in Prowl's grasp a bit. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE,. DO SOMETHING!"

But the scientist couldn't move. He continued to stare.

Right at this moment, the only thing that Petra wanted was to be put down. Just so she could go and look for Nina. So, since her former boss was only standing around looking like an idiot, she gazed up toward Prowl. "Yo, robot," she called up to him. "You see that guy over there? He's looking for the girl, too." Maybe that would take some of the focus off herself, at least.

Prowl didn't hear her because his audio units were off. But that didn't matter because he was staring at Fowl anyway. _Who is this guy?_ he wondered.

Petra stopped struggling and stopped talking, looking back and fourth between the robot and the man. She pursed her lips into a thin line, feeling impatient. Well, weren't one of them going to say or do something? Anything at all?

Finally Prowl spoke, turning his audio units back on. "Hello," he greeted the gaping professor.

Petra rolled her eyes. That was the best he could do? Hello? What was this, "First Contact; or something?

It took a few minutes for Fowl to regain his composure. When he could finally speak again he demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"

Prowl frowned. Was this guy talking to him or the woman. "Huh?"

"Not you!" Fowl addressed the robot. He glared at Petra. "What's the big idea?"

Petra glared openly at him. "Hey!" she said. "I'm the one being carried around against my will, and you-" She cut herself off, shaking her head in disgust. "Can't you see? I'm being held prisoner here! DO _SOMETHING_!"

Fowl ignored her accusations. "How could you involve the Autobots?" he snapped. "Do you realize that they are the last things I want knowing about this!? They'll just go back and tell Sumdac what I'm doing and then everything will be ruined."

Prowl stared at him. What was this man talking about? What did he think they'd tell Sumdac?

"It's not my fault he found me on the street!" Petra retorted with venom. "He said he's looking for the girl. I guess he saw her somewhere. He's a robot pervert who wants her for his own twisted pleasure!"

Fowl glared at her. "Thanks for ruining everything," he growled. "I knew involving you was a bad idea."

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" Petra wailed, sounding more pathetic than angry now. "WHY WON'T YOU EVER BELIEVE ME!?"

"Because you're dumb enough to do something like this!" he shot back.

"Excuse me," Prowl spoke up.

"What?" Fowl demanded, looking over at him.

"The woman here actually didn't get me involved," Prowl explained. "She actually tried to keep me from finding the girl."

Fowl looked back at Petra. "Oh really?"

Petra nodded, sniffling a little. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I really tried," she said in a small, child-like voice.

Fowl cursed under his breath. Even if she _hadn't _gotten them involved it looked like they knew anyway. This wouldn't bode well for him. He clenched his fists, cursing Sumdac and every being on that wretched planet of Cybertron. Couldn't they just mind their own business?

Petra managed to regain her composure, and she looked up at Prowl again. "Could you put me down now, please?" She gave him her best "Bambi Eyes" look. Now that he seemed somewhat interested in talking to Fowl, she hoped he would comply.

Prowl ignored her. He continued to question Fowl. "So _you're_ the one responsible for all of this then?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," the professor replied, smugly. "What are you going to do about it, Autobot?"

"Why would you do such a thing to an innocent girl?"

The Irishman laughed. "Innocent girl?" he asked. "If only you knew, my ignorant mechanical friend."

Prowl stared at him. What did he mean by that? "What are you saying?"

Fowl laughed. "That doesn't not concern you or any of your kind."

"EXCUSE ME," Petra spoke up loudly. Once she was sure she had at least a portion of their attention, she said, "I gotta go to the bathroom. Either put me down right now, or-" She shot Prowl a look of impish implication.

Without even thinking Prowl opened his hand, letting the woman drop 15 feet to the ground.

Petra somehow managed to land cat-like on the ground, allowing her feet, knees, hands and arms to take the brunt of the impact, and she managed to roll herself a little to help absorb more of the impact. It still hurt like the bloody murder, but at least nothing was broken or sprained.

Once she stopped moving, she simply collapsed against the pavement. "Ow," she said, her face contorting into a deep grimace. She was going to have bruises all over for sure. And to make matters worse, she was currently shirtless, only having a bra on.

After a few moments she finally managed to push herself to her feet, then she limped in the general direction of her front door. But as she neared Fowl she stumbled, then fell heavily against him, grabbing onto his shoulder and arm for support.

With the woman's added weight he fell onto the pavement with her landing on top of him. "Gah! Get off me, you stupid woman!" he yelled.

"I hurt all over!" Petra groaned, still clinging to him. "Could you just help me inside?"

"No, I will _not _carry you inside!" he shouted, shoving her off of him. "What do I look like?"

Petra was rubbing her sore thigh with annoyance. "Oh, what do _you_ care?" she snapped at the robot. She then pushed herself up and proceeded to crawl on her hands and knees, toward the front door.

Prowl watched her with growing concern.

"I wouldn't bother with her," Fowl stated, forcing the robot to look at him. "She just wants attention."

"But she looks hurt," he said. "Shouldn't you help her?"

Fowl laughed. "Help her?" he asked. "You've got to be kidding. I know what I'm doing."

"What exactly are you doing?" Prowl demanded. "What kind of person experiments on his own kind?"

"That is something that does not concern you, Autobot," the man retorted, glaring up at him with icy blue eyes. "What I am doing is for the good of all mankind. Nobody, seems to understand this. Not man-" his eyes grew hard. "and certainly not machine. I tried to explain that this was for the benefit of man kind but who would listen to a mad scientist's ramblings?" he smirked, spreading out his arms. "But it's too late now. I proved them all wrong and when I can show them the proof, I will do so and they will all be eating those words."

"This means you're responsible for-"

"Of course I am," Fowl smirked. "But the little specimen got away from me." he laughed. "But not for much longer. I shall find it and then everything will do the way I wanted it to."  
"But you've destroyed a human life!"

Fowl gave him a correcting look. "That life," he said slowly, as if talking to a child. "Was _never _human to begin with."

_A/N_

_Dun Dun duuuuuuuun!_


	19. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Bumblebee stared at Sari in disbelief. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I saw something," she replied, her eyes locked on the woman. "There was a figure behind her with its hands grasping her shoulders." She saw by the look on the young Autobot's face that he didn't believe her. "I'm not lying!" she insisted, turning to face him. "I really did see something!" she pointed at Lase. "It looked like somebody we knew."

Now she had the Autobot's attention. "Somebody we knew?" he asked. "Like who?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she responded. "It was too blurry to totally make out. But maybe _she_ can tell us."

Then the girl turned away from him again and walked purposely toward the woman.

She did not get far.

As she drew near Lase lifted her head and both Sari and Bumblebee saw the red glow in her eyes moments before she shot them with a bolt of pink energy.

* * *

Prowl gaped at the man in shock. What did he mean by the girl wasn't human to begin with? She looked human and acted human. How could she _not_ be human?

_Sari isn't human either, _he reminded himself. _But the inside of that girl's body is different from hers. _

When Ratchet had scanned Nina they'd seen a very strange system. Her insides were neither mechanical or organic but, unlike Sari, she actually did have a heart, even if it looked like it was made of some kind of strange substance.

"Why are you saying that?" he demanded.

Fowl smirked. "This does not concern you, robot," he informed him. "The girl is my property and isn't any of your business, so if you happen to know where she is I would advice you telling me if you want to avoid trouble."

For the very first time in his life, Prowl actually felt himself feeling disgusted at a human. This guy wasn't just messing around with things he shouldn't but it seemed he'd also managed to create something that wasn't natural. "So then I guess this means she has no parents." he stated.

The professor laughed. "Her only parent is a test tube!"

"Are you telling me that she is not some human girl you took off the street and did this to?"

Fowl laughed. "I tried that once with my assistant and it did not work," he said. "So I went back to the beginning and started with the source of all human life. With a little splicing on my part and of course a little bit of liquid metal, I created the creature you call Nina."

_Liquid metal? Has this man gotten his hands on a protoform? _If he had somehow managed to acquire one this only made things worse. The human was messing around with things he should not be and he felt the need to justify it! What kind of monster _was_ he?

"You-"

"Don't think you can judge me!" Fowl cut him off. "Not when your own race does far worse things to your own kind and others, after what your kind has done to the people of this planet. " the man glanced over at Petra who was crawling on her hands and knees back to her apartment. "What I am doing is far less of an issue than what you've all done."

Prowl glared at him. "None of my fraction has ever done anything like this to any creatures," he stated. Not even Perceptor had tried anything like that and he was known for doing a lot of strange things in the name of science. "Do not try using Cybertronians to justify what you're madness."

Fowl smirked. "What I do needs no justification." he turned away from Prowl, reaching down and opening the door to his car. "Because what I've done is help human evolution along."

"Stop!" Prowl ordered, reaching down and grabbing the man's car. The professor stared up at him with a very annoyed expression. "So that's why you did that? Why you created her? Because you think it's the next step in the evolution of your species?"

"Let go of my car, you dumb machine," Fowl growled. He didn't want to discuss this anymore with the Autobot.

But Prowl wasn't going to let him go that easily. He kept a firm grip on the small Corvette, his optics flashing dangerously behind his ninja visor. "So _that's_ why you want her back," he said. "You intend to display her in front of everyone like some kind of trophy, like she's not even a living creature that thinks and feels."

The scientist glared at him. "What I do with that thing is my business," he replied. "It's mine. I created it. Nobody, not even you, has any right to tell me how to handle it." he turned his glare to Prowl's hands which were still gripping his car. "I would suggest letting go of my car, unless you want somebody to see you harassing a human. That would be bad for you because then people would know you Autobots aren't as organic friendly as you first seemed."

At the moment Prowl did not care about his reputation but he knew if Optimus found out he unintentionaly turned the human race against them he'd be in even more trouble. So, much as he did not want to do it, he let go of Fowl's car.

The man smirked at him. "That's better," he said opening the car door. "Oh by the way," he added as he climbed in. "You might want to help that loon." Then he closed the door, started the engine, and drove away leaving Prowl standing there, helplessly watching his taillights get smaller and small.

* * *

"I would like to know one thing," Nina said as she rode in Optimus Prime's cab.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Why are you all so interested in me?" she questioned.

"Well..." he hesitated, trying to come up with an answer she'd understand. That answer was slow in coming. "It's complicated."

"How can it be complicated?" she wanted to know. "It seems simple enough to me. I'm not like everyone else and you all want to find out what I'm made of." she tucked her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "To be honest I would like to know the answer as well. I don't know how I wound up this way or who I really am. I don't even know if I have a family or friends."

Optimus was silent. If his theory on her origins was true she didn't have either. But how was he going to tell her such a thing? How would she take it if he did? What would she do? Would she think he was lying and lose her temper?

He couldn't chance her running away again.

Something about his silence bothered her. He seemed to be purposely keeping quiet and she wanted to know why. _Does he know something?_

He most likely did. Maybe that was why they'd asked that professor guy to come and see her when she'd been a prisoner in their lair. What had they talked about after he'd left her? What exactly had they discovered?

"Are you even going to say anything?" she demanded. "Or are you just going to stay silent and make me feel bad?"

"Nina," Optimus spoke up. "You'll find out all your answers once we're back at the plant. I can't explain things to you very well. Ratchet can do it much better than I can."

She sighed and pulled her legs closer. _He'd better have something to tell me, _she thought. _Because if I have to live the rest of my life in the dark about everything that happened before I woke up in that tank I'm going to go crazy!_

* * *

The blast sent both Bumblebee and Sari flying backward. Bee slammed into the wall and Sari crashed down onto a pile of chairs. As the two tried to recover the woman jumped to her feet, glaring at them.

"_I won't let you Autobots prevent me from getting what I want this time," _she said in a voice that wasn't hers. She held up the key, a familiar smirk etched on her face. _"This time I __**will **__have things my own way!"_

Then, before either of them could say or do anything, she turned away and dashed out of the building.

"Hurry," Sari said, pushing herself off the floor. "We have to go after her!"

* * *

"Why did you make me do that?" Lase demanded as Starscream forced her body to move quickly down the street. "I could have killed them!"

_"Because, my dear human pet, if I had not done it, they would have taken the key from you and that would have pretended you from getting full control of your body and I know you don't want me possessing you forever," _he responded, a mocking sneer in his voice. _"After all once I use the key to revive my body, I won't have to pull your strings."_

She did not respond. The woman knew he was right. But that still didn't prevent her from feeling bad about it. She clasped the key closer to her chest and closed her eyes. "So where are we going now?" she asked him.

He spoke as if she should already know. _"Where else? Back to where my body is."_

* * *

Prowl watched helplessly as Fowl's car drove away. He knew he could have run after the man and stopped him but that would not have done any good. The man had freedom to leave any time he wanted.

The sound of Petra groaning in pain got the robots' attention and he turned his head to see her pulling herself onto the landing. Feeling a bit worried about the woman's well being he moved toward her.

"Do you need any help?"

Petra's head snapped up in the direction of the Autobot, her eyelids flickering in mild surprise. "I just... want to... get inside," she wheezed. She hurt all over, and the effort to crawl toward her door had simply made it worse.

Prowl didn't respond for a moment. He looked at the apartment. He was too big to get inside himself which meant he couldn't exactly carry her in. "What floor do you live on?" he questioned.

"Bottom floor," Petra told him, sounding a bit strained. "In fact," she added, "all I really need to do is get through that door there, and I'll pretty much be there." She pointed at the door for emphasis.

"Oh." the robot reached over and gently opened the door. Somehow he felt disappointed. If she'd lived on the second floor he could have conversed with her without feeling awkward. He still had a few things he wanted to know and he knew this woman probably knew something about it.

"Oh thank you!" Petra said. She grabbed onto the edge of the door frame and, with considerable effort, she pulled herself up. However, she did not go inside right away. Instead she turned to look up at Prowl again. "You're not so bad for a robot, you know," she told him. "Say, you wouldn't be interested in being a butler or something, would you?" She grinned in spite of herself.

Prowl's expression didn't change. He just stared at her with a frown on his face as he said. "I'm an Autobot, not a butler. Whatever that is."

Petra's face fell. "Oh, too bad." She shrugged a little, then winced. "Well either way, no loss! Nina's probably waiting for me inside." She was so sore that she wasn't even thinking about what she was saying, at all. She slowly turned away, bracing herself. She wanted to make sure she was steady on her feet before she went inside; or more specifically, before she let go of the door frame.

Suddenly there was a WOOSH of air and a black and gold motorcycle was under her. It roared into her apartment and came to a stop in the middle of the living room area.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Petra screamed at the top of her lungs. While the motorcycle was moving she held on for dear life. But once it came to a full stop she let go and allowed herself to fall sideways, rolling along the carpet until she bumped softly into the couch.

The motorcycle turned and started talking to her. It had Prowl's voice. "Okay, I don't usually do things like this to anybody," he said. "But I need answers and you're the only person I know who can give them to me."

"and if it makes you feel better." his policeman hologram appeared on her couch and spoke in Prowl's voice. "You can talk to me like this."

Petra stared at the motorcycle for a moment with wide, unblinking eyes. Then suddenly she grinned. "Oh wow, I've never seen an Autobot in its vehicle mode before!" she exclaimed. Somehow forgetting at least some of her soreness, she pushed herself to her feet and allowed herself to plop down on the couch, lounging back against the cushions.

"Man alive, I wish I could keep you!" she exclaimed, her grin widening.

Then, almost as though the hologram on the couch was a different entity onto itself, she turned to it and began to chatter. "You know, I've always loved motorcycles. And I'd really like to welcome you into my home, man! It's not often that I have company!" She giggled and clapped her hands.

The hologram frowned. "Miss Black," he said. "I'm not here for a chat."

"Aw, but why are you here, then?" she asked, sticking her lip out in a little pout.

"I want to know somethings about Fowl and I get the feeling you will be able to tell me," he replied, the hologram shivering slightly as if Prowl was having a hard time keeping it functioning properly, or he was reminding her the officer wasn't real. "You do know something don't you?"

Petra flinched a little when the hologram flickered. She scooted herself away from just a little, folded her hands in her lap, then considered for a moment. "Maybe," she finally said with a little shrug. She then glanced around the room, frowning. Where was Nina? Wasn't she here? Surely the girl would have heard them come in, considering all the noise they'd made coming in.

"He told me something about the girl," the hologram went on. "He said she was not human to begin with and she was going to be the first in the next step of human evolution. Whatever possessed him to want to do something like this in the first place?"

"Fowl's always been kind of weird," Petra answered distractedly. She got up off the couch and began to move around the room, her eyes darting all over the place as she turned her head this way and that, looking around. "And yeah um, I guess the girl was created as an experiment or whatever. He even talked about her like she was a thing rather than a person, can you believe that?"

Prowl was beginning to believe it. When he'd spoken to the man he hadn't really referred to the girl as a person. "What exactly is the point?"

"Huh?" Petra asked, still distracted. She stiffly dropped down onto her hands and knees and peered under the couch, seeing nothing there except dust and last weeks nachos, oh and what was that shiny thing? A penny! She snatched it, suddenly feeling as if it was her lucky day.

Prowl was losing his patience. "WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT AND LISTEN TO ME?" he shouted. "If you care anything about that girl you will pay attention!"

Petra let out a little yelp and glanced around, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. Her gaze darted from the hologram on the couch to the motorcycle and back to the hologram again. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I was just... looking for something important." She stayed where she was, on the floor, her eyes still darting around. In her own way, she felt like she was surrounded.

"Now why don't we start from the beginning," both the motorcycle and the hologram said. "Why would Fowl want to do that kind of thing and what does he intend to prove by doing it? That it can be done? Or..." another thought came to him. "Is he trying to show up someone else?"

Petra gave the motorcycle and the hologram each a weirded out look. "You know," she said as she slowly pulled herself up off the floor, grabbing onto the couch's armrest for support, "I don't see why I should tell you anything. You came in here without even knocking or asking to come in! You're awfully rude, you know that?"

The motorcycle responded with a growl from his engine as the hologram glared at her. "I feel my actions are justified," he replied. "Seeing as we're both after the same thing. If Fowl does find that girl do you think he'll let you see her again? Do you think he'll even TALK to you again?"

Petra merely looked smug. "Oh but that won't be a problem." She then gingerly sat down on the couch again, eying the hologram somewhat warily. She didn't say any more though. _I'm just glad he's not a mind reader, _she thought to herself. She just knew that Nina had to be in her apartment somewhere. She just didn't know where at the moment.

"She's not here."

Petra's expression faltered a bit. "What?"

"She is not here," he responded. "I scanned your apartment. I did not pick up her energy signature."

Abandoning any attempt to hide the girl's whereabouts, Petra stared blankly at the hologram for a moment. Then, very slowly, she eased herself off the couch again. Once she was standing she placed her hands on her hips and looked serious. "Say that one more time?" she requested dully.

"She is not here," he said very carefully.

_She is not here?_ Petra thought, running those words through her mind and then repeating them at least twice. "But."

Her face twisted as though she were having difficulty accepting that fact. Then she turned away from the hologram and the motorcycle completely. Then, all of a sudden, she clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "I told her to come back here! I thought she would listen to me! I THOUGHT SHE KNEW I CARED ABOUT HER! I THOUGHT SHE TRUSTED ME!"

Her voice had risen to an ear-piercing shriek and she dashed over to her coffee table, lifting it up and throwing it over, scattering everything that had been on top of it. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" she wailed, dashing toward her window and yanking on the curtains, ripping them down and then becoming somewhat entangled in them.

Prowl didn't move. "Maybe she had a reason."

Petra began to breath heavily, deeply in and out, and became preoccupied with the task of getting the curtains off of her. Once she untangled them she threw them down on the floor, then simply turned to glare at the hologram. "This. Just. SUCKS." She finally said. She appeared a bit calmer, although she still looked hurt and pissed.

Finally she went over and threw herself down on the couch, brooding. She simply scowled at the ceiling for a few moments. Then she reached over to grab her purse, took out a cigarette, and lit it. She stuck it in her mouth and inhaled very deeply, then exhaled slowly.

The smoke was messing with Prowl's hologram. The image flickered intensely as if it was full of static. "Miss Black," he said. "Would you mind?"

"Yes I do mind," Petra growled. She was in one of her moods now and did not feel like being courteous. She inhaled again and blew smoke directly into the hologram's face.

"PETRA!" Prowl shouted.

"Oh fine." Petra took the cigarette out of her mouth and broke the lit end off of it, throwing it aside into the ash tray on the table beside the couch. Then she looked at the larger portion of the stick that was still in her hand. Apparently needing something to occupy her attention with, she simply put it partway into her mouth and began to chew on it.

Prowl was beginning to become impatient. "Can we get back to the topic at hand now?" he asked her. "This is important."

Petra chewed on what was left of the cigarette until it was little more than a pulp in her mouth. She glanced at the ash tray for a moment, then shrugged and swallowed it. "Yeah sure, seems I've got nothing else to do right now," she groaned.

* * *

The girl was not at Petra Black's house. Fowl knew this without even having to go inside. The scientist gripped the steering wheel with white knuckled fingers, his mind running a mile a minute.

"I knew involving her was a bad idea," he growled. "I never should have called her. She didn't make anything better at all. In fact she just made things worse! I wanted her to keep the girl with her if she found her, not take her gallivanting all over the city! Whatever possessed her to do such a thing? Now my experiment is gone again!"

Now he would have to find the girl himself and he wasn't looking forward to it. Where could she have gone? The chip that was implanted in her to help him find her if she ran wasn't functioning at all.. It almost seemed as if the girl had vanished off the planet.

If any of those Autobots got their hands on her it most likely was possible that she _had _left the planet.

Fowl cursed under his breath. Just what he didn't need. Those annoying Autobot poking their noses into things that didn't concern them. After his conversation with the one named Prowl he knew they knew she existed and most likely were after her as well.

_Shoot! Why do these things have to make things even more difficult? _He slammed his fist against the steeling wheel. _This is why I HATE humanity!_

_A/N_

_Ehh I got nothing. _


	20. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Lase Vanderbelt paused a few blocks away from the Sumdac Tower to catch her breath. She'd been running since she'd left the building and was feeling the effects of it, especially since she wasn't used to running and out of shape. If she didn't stop she felt she would burst.

_"What are you doing?"_ Starscream's voice hissed in her ear the moment she stopped over and took deep breaths. _"We don't have time for you to stand around doing nothing."_

"Starscream," she hissed, clenching her fist around the key. "I told you I can't keep moving. I'm a human. I have to rest."

The seeker didn't respond but she knew by the slight pain her her shoulders he wasn't happy. _He needs to get over it. I'm a human. I have limits. You would think he'd realize that by now. What exactly does he think? That since parts of him are inside me I shouldn't be normal? It might have given me strange powers but I still am a human being. I'm like one of the X-men. _

She sighed and moved forward at a slower pace. Starscream made a comment about that but she kept on moving at her chosen speed. Whether she moved fast or slowly they'd get there anyway and she pointed this out to him.

Starscream fell silent once more and she felt a bit better. At least he was listening for once and soon she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. He would have his own body and she would have hers.

_Or not._

The stray thought almost made her stop. What did that mean?

_I'm sure you know the answer to that. Do you really think he's just going to get his body back and let you live? _

_Why wouldn't he?_

_It's simple. He's an evil Decepticon who only cares about himself. He's not going to let you live, you should have figured that out for yourself. Plus you can't __**not**__ send him back where he belongs as punishment either for tricking you._

Yeah because he was possessing her body and she didn't want him in her body. So no matter what she did, she'd lose.

_So what do you plan on doing about it?_

She continued on her course. _I'll cross that bridge when I come to it._

_

* * *

_

"Oh man, where did she go?"

Bumblebee and Sari paused outside Sumdac tower and looked both ways, searching the busy district for any sign of the blond woman. But there was nothing. She had simply vanished.

"Rats," Sari grumbled, sinking down until she was sitting on the pavement. "There goes my key." she sighed.

"Don't worry, Sari," he said, trying to make her feel better. "We'll get it back. She couldn't have gone far."

"But we don't know which way she went," the techno organic girl pointed out. "She could have gone in any direction."

"Well then I guess we're going to have to just search them all."

"How?" she wanted to know. "Because unless you know how to clone yourself, there's no way we can cover all the places she could have gone and for all you know she could be getting further away the more we search other places."

Bee didn't respond. He knew she was right. "Then what do you suggest we do?" he asked after a moment.

The techno organic girl shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "We can't exactly tell the others about this since this wasn't what we were supposed to be doing anyway. Plus it's getting dark out and that only makes things more complicated."

Until then Bee hadn't noticed that the sun had gone down. Now he looked at all the lit streetlights and frowned. "I don't know," he said uncertainly. "Maybe we should tell Optimus what happened."

Sari didn't seem to like that suggestion. "Let's not bring Optimus in until we're sure we can't take care of this ourselves," she suggested, getting back up.

"All right," he said looking like he was having a hard time making up his mind.

It was obvious Sari wanted to try getting the key back without asking the others to help her. After all the key _did_ belong to her even if it no longer worked. Bee guessed she kept it for sentimental purposes. After all what other reason would she have for keeping it after it could no longer be activated?

"Okay," he said, nodding. "We won't tell them yet. But we will have to tell them about this if we can't find her."

"I know," the girl acknowledged. "and I'm hoping we won't have to."

"Why not?" he wanted to know.

She looked away. "I don't know," she admitted. "I feel like they shouldn't know about this until I'm sure I'll need their help. It's my key after all. I should have taken better care of it."

"You shouldn't be so worried," he told her. "It doesn't work anymore anyway."

Sari didn't respond to that. She merely looked down the street, her expression blank. This action bothered Bumblebee for some reason.

_What isn't she telling me?_

* * *

Optimus Prime pulled up in front of the plant twenty minutes later. As he waited for Nina to climb out of the cab so he could transform he thought about their conversation. The girl knew absolutely nothing about herself. She had no memories and no family it seemed. The Prime wasn't comfortable with what that could imply but he didn't say anything to her about it.

He remembered the X-ray scans he'd seen of her internal system. It had been different than anything he'd ever seen before, her organics and even her skin a mixture of metal and flesh. It it way different than his or even _Sari's _body chemistry.

But the biggest issue had been that it seemed to be unstable. Parts seemed to be breaking off a little at a time. But maybe he'd been seeing things. The images Ratchet had shown him were blurred and he couldn't be sure what was going on.

But maybe now that they had the girl again, they could learn more.

"Nina?" he said. "Aren't you going to get out?"

Optimus voice brought the girl out her thoughts. She blinked a few times, confused for a moment then she saw the plant outside the cab window and remembered where they'd been going. They'd reached their destination. "Oh!" she exclaimed, embarrassed. She reached over and grabbed the door, opening it. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about some things."

The Prime didn't ask her what about. He just waited for her to jump out of the cab before transforming. Nina stood waiting for him, her eyes widening when she saw his change shape. "How in the world do you guys do that?" she asked him.

"It's complicated," he replied, not really wanting to explain it to her. "Never mind that. Let's head inside and see what we can find out."

She nodded. He noticed her frowning, as if she didn't really want to do what he'd suggested.

"Ratchet won't hurt you," he assured her. "He'll just run a scan over your body and-"

"And what?" she asked, "poke me with needles? Tear off my fingernails? Stick me in a tank?"

Optimus stared at her, his optics wide. Why in the world would she think Ratchet would do such things to her?

"Nina," he said slowly. "Ratchet's not like that. He won't do any of those things."

"How do _you _know?" she demanded.

"Because I know Ratchet," he told her. "and he's not that kind of person."

She seemed to be weighing the truth of his words. It was obvious she didn't want to believe him but it also seemed that she did and was having a hard time making up her mind on what exactly she wanted to do.

"Nina," he said making her look up at him. "If you don't want to you don't have to. Just say it and I'll take you somewhere."

She shook her head. "No," she responded. "I have to find out," she stated determinedly. "It's better than not knowing."

"All right," he said. "If you're totally sure."

"If I wasn't I wouldn't be here," she replied. "Let's just get this over with please. The longer we wait the worse I'm going to feel and the more of a chance there will be that I will change my mind."

He could understand that. Prime nodded then headed into the planet, the girl following close behind.

* * *

"Ratchet!"

Upon hearing his name being called the medic looked up. he saw Optimus enter the room. "Prime," he said. "You're back."

"Yes," the younger Autobot said, nodding. "and I brought someone with me." he moved to the side revealing Nina.

Ratchet's optics widened when he saw her. "You managed to find her after all," he said.

The Prime nodded again. "But she only came on her own free will," he told him.

"I see." the medic looked at her. The girl met his gaze, frowning, He noticed she was dressed differently. "What for?"

"I want to know something," the girl replied.

"What?" the medic inquired, not knowing what kind of questions she might ask him. Would it be about himself? About the Autobots and who they were? About why she thought they wanted to kill her? Or...

"Why am I the way I am?" she asked, surprising him.

"What do you mean why are you the way you are?"

She looked at her hands. "Why do I have these powers?" she questioned. "Why do I have that weird smudge on my cheek that looks like a face and.." she looked like she was going to burst into tears. "Why do I have wings that come out of my back? What in the world am I?"

The two Autobots stared at her startled. "Wings?" Optimus asked her.

Nina nodded. She went on. "I have these.. wings... they came out of my back and.."

"Bird wings?"

"No! Metal wings! Like the ones airplanes have."

The Autobots looked at each other. metal wings? Did this mean?

No, that was impossible! Wasn't it?

"All right," Ratchet said after a moment. "What do you want me to do for you?"

"I want to know what I'm made of and where I came from," she told him, walking toward the medic. "and to begin doing so I need you to look inside me and see what you can find."

* * *

Prowl was beginning to feel like he's made a dumb mistake. He'd been questioning Petra Black for the past hour but she wasn't making much sense with her answers. For a moment she seemed to be making sense and then her attention span would wander and she'd start rambling about others things. He was tempted to smash her head against the coffee table but couldn't do that even if he wanted to since his hologram couldn't grasp things and if he returned to standard mode he's break the building. Plus he wouldn't hurt an organic even if he wanted to.

So he was left with only one option. Yelling, and yelling didn't do much good after awhile. It seemed like she knew he couldn't hurt him so she took advantage of it and started rambling about her old boyfriend and people that wronged her. He couldn't really blame those people for being ticked off at her. She just had that way with people.

"Will you please stop your rambling and pay attention?" he shouted for the tenth time. "THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!"

Petra flinched a little when he shouted at her, then she scowled at him. "Well, geez!" she huffed, offended. "I was just trying to talk about that time I accidentally flushed my bra down the toliet. I thought you might find it interesting!" She leaned back against the cushions on the couch, folding her arms. She looked quite offended.

"I don't care about your underthings!" he exclaimed. "They have nothing to do with our current situation"

"Well, I just like to talk!" she retorted with a huff. "I don't get much company, you know. And since the girl is gone, you're the only one here." Once again she stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "I don't know why no one ever wants to talk to me," she brooded, almost sounding like a moping three-year-old.

_Maybe because you don't make any sense when you do talk to people_, he was tempted to say but didn't. Instead he said. "I need to know what you know about this Fowl and all I've learn so far is what I already know."

He tried again. "Now... do you have any idea why he would want to create a human that is part machine besides the answer he gave me? What exactly does he hope to gain from it and, if it's the reason, who is he trying to prove this to?"

"Well," Petra said, scrunching her face up as though thinking hard. At least she seemed to be back on track now... even if she looked like she was in pain from thinking so hard. "All that he did was tell me what the girl looked like, and asked me for help in finding her. Oh, and he did tell me that she was a techno-organic." She beamed brightly, as though momentarily lost in some memory that only she could appreciate. "He also mentioned something about a weird birthmark on her cheek, I think. But I think it looked more like a tattoo. Damn, I've always wanted to get a tattoo. I once dreamed of getting a winged dragon one on my back, right between my shoulder blades..." And then she was rambling again.

"WILL YOU KINDLY STAY ON ONE TOPIC!"

"Oh," Petra said, her tone darkening a bit. "Guess you don't want to hear about that." She sighed and glanced at the holographic form again. "Well, what DO you want to talk about? What do you want me to say?"

For a moment Prowl said nothing. It was becoming very clear that he would learn nothing from her. _I should have known that all along..._

"Never mind," he finally said. "It seems you can't help me after all."

Petra simply shrugged. "Whatever." Then her face brightened. "I have really enjoyed the company, though!" she added quickly. "I don't see many people around here, like I said. And even though you kept cutting me off and raising your voice at me, well..." She got up from the couch and crossed the short distance between herself and the motorcycle, patting it. "You're an okay Autobot. Come back and see me anytime!" She turned and winked suggestively at the hologram.

The hologram deactivated and Prowl backd up. "Maybe.." he said. "But don't count on it."

Petra grinned and hastily moved toward Prowl again, closing the distance he had put between them. "Do you like hot chocolate with itty bitty little marshmallows?" she asked. She reached out and touched his gas cap. "I could go get some if you want to try it!"

"No," he replied, backing out of the room. "No thank you."

* * *

Ratchet looked startled at her proposition but didn't comment on it. Instead he merely nodded and reached down and out put his hand to her. She stepped into his palm and allowed him to lift her and set her down on the table. After she stepped out of his pam and turned back to him he said. "You're going to need to lie down for this."

"O-okay," she consented doing exactly what she was told.

Once she was lying down on the table Ratchet picked up his X-Ray scanner and ran it slowly over her body. Once he was finished he turned to the computer screen and waited for the images to come up. She watched him watching the screen, wondering what he would see.

When his expression changed from blank to startled she sat up instantly. "What?" she asked. "What is it?"

Ratchet didn't react for a moment then he looked at her. "You.. you might not want to see this," he said.

What? What did he mean by that? What didn't he want her to see? Was it that horrible?

"It's my body!" she reminded him, scrambling to her feet and moving toward him. "I have a right to see what you found in it. Now let me see what you found already."

_It can't be that bad, can it?_

"All right," he gave in. "But you might not like what you see."

"I'll be the judge of that," she informed him.

The Autobot medic hesitated for another brief moment then turned the screen to her. What she saw made her eyes grow wide and an icy hand of terror ran down her back. "Is..," she said after a moment. "Is that really me?"

The medic nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so.."

_No! No! It can't be true! I can't look like that! It's not possible!_

But it was.

_A/N_

_and now... I don't know.. I have no clue when I'll be updating this one again. I'm kind of stuck._


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Lase Vanderbelt couldn't help thinking she was walking to her death. Even as she drew closer to her former employers laboratory, she felt as if the Grim Reaper's bony hand was touching her back. He was waiting...

_Hurry up, human! _Starscream's impatient voice shouted into her head.

"I'm going as fast as I can," she snapped. "There's only so much one can deal with walking in their bare feet." and boy did her feet hurt.

_Why didn't you put shoes on then? _he taunted.

"You didn't give me a chance to."

Starscream didn't argue with her there because they both knew that was true. _Who cares what I said?_ he finally demanded indignantly._ Just get us back as soon as possible so I can finally get myself out of this disgusting body! _

Why did that offend her so much? she asked herself. It wasn't like she expected any else from a heartless Decepticon who only cared about himself anyway.

Maybe because he wouldn't shut up about it and it was getting on her nerves. It wasn't even her fault he wound up inside her head, it was her former boss's obsession with the evolution of mankind and trying to create the perfect cyber human that caused all of this.

Like he didn't know that anyway...

While getting him out of her was a wonderful idea and she was thrilled at the prospect, she couldn't help that nagging feeling inside her that said she was making a horrible mistake. That if she got him back into his body he would just betray her and end her life.

That brought her no comfort at all.

0000

Ratchet studied the girl's expression as she started at the x-ray image of herself with rapt attention. He could tell she was having a hard time believing that those very images were of her body. She kept rubbing her arms as if she were cold and shaking her head in apparent denial of it all.

Poor kid. He wished he could tell her otherwise but after all he'd seen and heard he knew everything she was being exposed to right at that moment was factual and it wouldn't change. He watched the girl walk over to the images and take a good long look as if she were letting it sink in. He couldn't blame her for acting like that at all.

Then she asked the terrible question he'd been hoping not to answer. "Is my body falling apart?"

"I wouldn't say that-" he began cautiously, unsure how to answer _that. _

"Then why does it look like that?" she demanded, turning to him. "It's not normal! _I'm_ not normal!"

"Now calm down," he ordered, trying to keep his own voice level. "You're not falling apart, you're just different."

"Different?" she snapped. "I'm a freak! Just look at me, look at my body, look at all the garbage I've gone through! I don't know anything about myself!"

Ratchet looked at Optimus. He was having trouble telling the girl what she wanted to know and the look on the Prime's face wasn't helping. He looked just as helpless as the medic felt.

"Just tell me what you know," Nina begged suddenly. "Please tell me why I am the way I am."

"I can try," the medic responded, looking back at her. "But you might not like the answer."

"I want to know anyway," she insisted. "No one else I spoke to could answer my questions. If you can do this I'll be very grateful." and it might even take away some of the fear she'd been living with the past few days.

The two robots looked at each other again then Ratchet began to explain her origins the best he could from what little he'd learned about her.

0000

Dr. Fowler had returned to his lab. He sat at his desk, his eyes rested on the broken tank that had recently housed his most prised experiment. It seemed to taunt him now, reminding him that it had escaped him, right along with it's wretched "mother".

"That woman," he grumbled. "I can't believe this, it's all her fault this happened! I shouldn't have been so stupid as to use her for my experiments!"

Yes, it was her and her strong willed personality. Somehow it had moved on to the creation! That had to be the reason why it had escaped! It had to! It was the only explanation that made sense!

So what was he going to do about it? He still had to find the girl and Petra hadn't been much of a help. She'd let the girl leave!

"I shouldn't have asked for her help," he grumbled. "I should have known she wouldn't be trustworthy." Insane people seldom were and now he was paying for it. "Dumb broad."

Fowler got up from his desk and walked into the room where Starscream's body lay. He paused a moment,. frowning at the corpse with annoyance. If he didn't get he specimens back he would be forced to star over again and it would be much harder without an egg donor also the liquid metal inside the machine was low and he couldn't risk taking more out of it than he actually needed.

"Who knows how long that will last?" he muttered, placing his hand on the Decepticon corpse's arm. "It's surprising there are even anything like that inside this thing to begin with." he looked up at the corpse's face. 'I wonder how it's even made...?"

000

Sari sat in the front seat of bumblebee's vehicle mode as the yellow robot drove down the street back to the autobot base. Her arms were folded and her expression was grim. She wasn't happy about the outcome of their misadventure with the blond woman and Bee was getting the suspicion that she blamed him for the outcome.

'It wasn't my fault!" he exclaimed defensively. "There wasn't anything I could do"

"Please just be quiet," the girl ordered. 'I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

The Autubot wanted to talk about it but something told him doing so would be a very bad idea so he said nothing and they continued their drive back to the warehouse in silence.

0000

Lase paused when dr. Fowler's lab came in sight. She noticed that there was a light on in the building which told her somebody was in there. She also noticed the car parked in front of the building, a car she knew all too well.

Suddenly she felt herself be nudged forward and Starscream's voice hissing into her mind. 'what are you doing?" he hissed. _"Get over there and wake me up!"_

"I can't," she snapped. "The professor is there. If he sees me he'll probably kill me."

_"So what?"_

"So what?" she demanded feeling mean. She was getting tired of him verbally abusing her. "if he kills me you won't be getting your body back. How do like them apples?"

Starscream's presence seemed to fade, as if he was taking a moment to let that bit of information sink into his processor. After a moment he finally conceded. _'You're right, that would be a bad idea."_

She relaxed slightly, glad that he was listening to her. "We will have to wait until he leaves," she told him. "Otherwise things are going to end badly."

_"and what do we do in the meantime?"_ he grumbled. _"Sit around and tell each other our life stories?"_

She shrugged. "Why not?" she asked.

_"It's none of your business."_

Lase saw a car driving toward them and ducked out of view in an alley. "It's not like I care one way or another what you do or have done with your life," she declared. "It was merely a suggestion. You can keep your past to yourself since I know all too well that you Decepticons don't care about anyone but yourselves anyway."

_"and who told you that?"_ he scoffed. _"Autobots?"_

"It's pretty obvious since you all decided it was a pile of fun to attack this city without provocation," she retorted. "You guys can fight with the autobots all you want, heck go ahead and kill each other for all I care, but you don't have to drag us into your petty wars."

_"It's far from petty."_

"I'm sure," she rolled her eyes, though she wondered where her sudden courage was coming from. She'd probably totally regret everything she was saying to him later but right now she didn't care all that much. He couldn't exactly hurt her how he was now anyway. "But I'm sure you won't tell me why it's not how I said it anyway since you think it's below you to explain anything to a mere fleshling. Why does it matter if I know anyway? There's nothing I can do with that information."

_"You could tell the autubots."_

Lase sat down on the pavement, her eyes on the lab across the street. "I'm pretty sure they know your intentions anyway besides I'm pretty sure once I revive you you're just going to kill me anyway. It won't matter if you tell me what is going on with your machines or not. I'll die knowing what it's all about. It won't help my fate any but at least I'll die knowing why I'm a pawn to you."

Her words were met with silence, just like she'd expected them to.

0000

As Ratchet explained his theory on her origins he noticed the girl's expression become more and more horrified. "I'm not sure I'm right," he finally told her. "I am just guessing from what I've seen on the x-rays."

"But you're basically saying that I really am not a normal person after all," she stated. "Everything seems to say that, even my own body."

"I'm sorry..."

Nina sat down on the table, looking down at her hands. "It all makes sense. It explains why all this has happened to me..." she reached up and touched the mark on her face. "I'm a monster."

"I wouldn't say that-"

"Then what would you call it?" she snapped, looking up at him. "I wasn't made how you were and I wasn't born like a normal person! I woke up in a tank!"

The two autobots had no response to that.

Just then they heard the sound of tires squealing and then robot parts shifting. Either Prowl, Bumblebee, or Bulkhead had returned. Optimus left the room to see who it was, leaving Nina and Ratchet alone. She looked up at him, her expression changing from scared to sad.

"You can't fix me, can you?"

Ratchet gave her a startled look. Why would she even ask him that? "No, I can," he told her very gently, to prevent her from freaking out further. "I'm sorry."

_It's kind of hard reviving an older story. I had to read over my older chapters to remember what I was doing. Hope you enjoyed it and sorry for keeping you waiting. I'll try updating again soon._


End file.
